Primer

Name: Primer
Genre: Sci-Fi, Drama, Thriller
Released: October 8, 2004
Duration: 77 min
Rating: 68
Cast: Anand Upadhyaya, Casey Gooden, David Sullivan, Shane Carruth

2004

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 25 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 162 Ratings

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7.5

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7.5	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 162 Ratings

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Primer

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Movie Details & Credits

THINKFilm | Release Date: October 8, 2004 | PG-13

Starring: Anand Upadhyaya, Casey Gooden, David Sullivan, Shane Carruth

Summary: While tweaking their current project, two young engineers accidentally discover that it has some highly unexpected capabilities--ones that could enable them to do and to have seemingly anything they want. Taking advantage of this unique opportunity is the first challenge they face. Dealing with the consequences is the next. (ThinkFilm)

Director: Shane Carruth

Genre(s): Sci-Fi, Drama, Thriller

Rating: PG-13

Runtime: 77 min

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Critic Reviews

100

Dennis Lim

Primer unites physics and metaphysics in an ingenious guerrilla reinvention of cinematic science fiction. Read full review

Roger Ebert

It is maddening, fascinating and completely successful. Read full review

Scott Tobias

A brainteaser of the first order, Primer ranks among the best of recent thrillers such as "Memento" or "The Matrix," which rupture the fabric of reality and radically destabilize the narrative in kind. Read full review

Ty Burr

Shane Carruth's extraordinary work of shoestring speculation throws you into a deep ocean of techno-jargon and lets you dog-paddle or sink like a stone. Read full review

Empire Kim Newman

It's a puzzle as much as a plot, but when it's in focus (which it isn't for long stretches) it's remarkable brain-food. Read full review

Dallas Observer Robert Wilonsky

Love it or hate it, you won't be able to leave it alone. Read full review

Lou Lumenick

A real head-scratcher that somehow won the grand jury prize at this year's Sundance Film Festival. Read full review

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User Reviews

BrianS.

Jan 26, 2006

The best film of 2005. Probably the best sci-fi film of all time. Confusing at times, but that's what re-viewing is for and this movie demands it. Give it time to unfold and let it blow you away.

0 of 0 users found this helpful

Ansset

Jun 22, 2011

(10.0) Awesome. The best Sci-fi serious in this century. How can you make a great movie with great head and a tight budget.
Escuchar Waiting eagerly to the new work from me, since I saw this movie, new idol.

0 of 3 users found this helpful03

ryancarroll88

Aug 27, 2010

A minor miracle of a film, this movie manages to pull off everything a major motion picture should have (great scripting, amazing acting, drama, etc.) with a mere budget of ~$7,000. It's simultaneously captivating, confusing, frustrating, and in the end, completely gratifying - even if youA minor miracle of a film, this movie manages to pull off everything a major motion picture should have (great scripting, amazing acting, drama, etc.) with a mere budget of ~$7,000. It's simultaneously captivating, confusing, frustrating, and in the end, completely gratifying - even if you can't put all the pieces together on the first viewing. I already can't wait to watch it again.… Expand

5 of 8 users found this helpful53

tonyGreen

Feb 11, 2013

Low budget for sure, but they do a great job with it. Creepy, compelling, confusing and paranoiac, a good little movie. Will appeal to fans of Phillip K Dick I imagine. I liked it a lot, the plot I think deliberately confusing and hard to follow, and it works well. That is the nature of timeLow budget for sure, but they do a great job with it. Creepy, compelling, confusing and paranoiac, a good little movie. Will appeal to fans of Phillip K Dick I imagine. I liked it a lot, the plot I think deliberately confusing and hard to follow, and it works well. That is the nature of time travel I guess, to the rest of us trapped in linear causality type existences.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

infraRecon

May 10, 2023

2023, and I only started watching this moving, first of all, wtf is going on, I have never felt in my life confused about watching a movie, is that meant to be the point? Are the complexity and broken-up scenes meant to represent time?

Or am I just crazy, and need some sleep. To be honest I2023, and I only started watching this moving, first of all, wtf is going on, I have never felt in my life confused about watching a movie, is that meant to be the point? Are the complexity and broken-up scenes meant to represent time?

Or am I just crazy, and need some sleep. To be honest I don't know, this is a film that must be built up to be broken down to understand what the heck is going on.

But I think the real question is why I watched this film, So Im working, well thinking about a story in my head that requires a little time travel knowledge.

Did this movie Help, uuuuuuhhh, I really Don't, I understood what was going on, even when they went back in time in a paradoxical loop(Which is dangerous by the way, if time travellers exist, don't go back to a time where you exist, it either ends in you killing yourself or an unforeseen consequence)

So what the hell do I even rate this I'm deciding between a 6 and a 7, let's go 7. This for most people will confuse them, even for me and I deal with computers, design and software every day. The film itself is rather short but well-paced, well-acted, calm chaotic and pretty modern in my eyes.

Maybe extra scenes should have been added to help the lesser audience to keep up with the weird structure of the film.

No matter who you are, You will be confused but you will follow, for some reason unknown.

I went into this film feeling confused, I left feeling confused but satisfactorily unsatisfied.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

ChadS.

Oct 18, 2005

"Primer" grows increasingly incomprehensible towards the end, so there's really no payoff to the first time we see one of the characters witnessing his double through his binoculars. But still, it's a kick to see a genuine independent film mostly transcend its shoestring budget "Primer" grows increasingly incomprehensible towards the end, so there's really no payoff to the first time we see one of the characters witnessing his double through his binoculars. But still, it's a kick to see a genuine independent film mostly transcend its shoestring budget with smart, albeit colorless dialogue, that doesn't dumb down the genre of science fiction like so many of its predecessors. "Primer" works a filmic primer for people who think science fiction is all about spectacle. It's all about the box. The filmmaker probably didn't have the money to waste film on any filler like romantic subplots and government intervention.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful

Printninja

Dec 1, 2005

This is one of those movies that has you wondering why... Why would anyone bother to make it? Why would anyone be interested in putting a thoroughly uninteresting story on screen? Why did it receive such positive critical review? It was also one of those movies that you just keep watching, This is one of those movies that has you wondering why... Why would anyone bother to make it? Why would anyone be interested in putting a thoroughly uninteresting story on screen? Why did it receive such positive critical review? It was also one of those movies that you just keep watching, minute after excruciating minute, in the desperate hope that something, anything, remotely interesting (or merely comprehensible) will happen. This movie made me feel like I was watching the dramatic version of Revenge of the Nerds. I watched the entire thing without ever once wanting to. Now that's some sweet revenge, but did I deserve it? For the record, I am a technophile, with a pretty good understanding of "geek speak", and I still couldn't get the jist of this train wreck. Another movie made to appeal primarily to the filmakers, and the .00001% of the population who understood whatever the heck it was they were trying to say. In a word, Exasperating. (also, why did they choose to call it Primer? Makes about as little sense as the movie.)… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful

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48	#48 Most Discussed Movie of 2004
56	#56 Most Shared Movie of 2004