Timecrimes

"A trip back in time from the present to..."

2007 1h 33m ES

👍

7.0

SOLID

★7.0TMDB · 1,550

Science FictionThriller

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A man accidentally gets into a time machine and travels back in time nearly an hour. Finding himself will be the first of a series of disasters of unforeseeable consequences.

“A trip back in time from the present to...”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Karra Elejalde
Héctor
Candela Fernández
Clara
Bárbara Goenaga
La chica del bosque
Nacho Vigalondo
El Joven
Juan Inciarte
Héctor Ocasional
Libby Brien
Clara (voice)
Nicole Dionne
La Chica (voice)
Philip Hersh
Radio Announcer (voice)

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Nacho Vigalondo
Writers: Nacho Vigalondo
Languages: Spanish
Countries: Spain

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $2.6M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Earned back only 21% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 19 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Nacho Vigalondo, shot by Flavio Martínez Labiano. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Eugenio Mira. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor José Luis Romeu shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Karra Elejalde and Candela Fernández and Bárbara Goenaga carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "A trip back in time from the present to...".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Nacho Vigalondo directs. Flavio Martínez Labiano behind the camera. Eugenio Mira scores. José Luis Romeu cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in Spain. Dialogue in Spanish.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $2.6M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
2Earned back only 21% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
3Released 19 years ago.
4Directed by Nacho Vigalondo, shot by Flavio Martínez Labiano. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Eugenio Mira. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor José Luis Romeu shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Karra Elejalde and Candela Fernández and Bárbara Goenaga carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "A trip back in time from the present to...".
9IMDB entry: tt0480669 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 13 themes, including "scissors", "time travel", "radio", "surrealism".
11Released under 12 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Flavio Martínez Labiano
Original score: Eugenio Mira
Editing: José Luis Romeu
Makeup / hair: Amaia Maguregui
VFX supervisor: Marcos Onaindia
Sound: Martín J. Guridi
Runtime: 93 min · 1h 33m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $2,600,000
Box office: $553,198
Return: 21% of budget
Original language: ES
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Timecrimes (2007)

Awards

Ignotus Award for Best Audiovisual Production

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Nacho Vigalondo

Stills · wallpapers

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Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Repo Jack2020-11-10
★ 6/10
Oh my God the time traveler in this movie is an idiot! Do as the time machine guys says and DON'T GO ANYWHERE FOR ONE HOUR. But nope, he's gotta go meddle with the timeline and create multiple versions of himself and events. I'm a sucker for time travel flicks, and for a very low budget Spanish import, it was fairly entertaining, but check out the much better "Predestination" instead if you haven't seen it.
dogstir2021-02-28
Timecrimes (2007), titled initially Los cronocrímenes, is one of the best time-travel movies available. Written and directed by Nacho Vigalondo, it was made in Spain and performed in Spanish. Reading English subtitles will not distract, however, as much of the movie is visual, and the pacing is not slow but methodical. The story revolves around Hector and starts at his house, which he recently moved into. He sees something in the woods behind his house and goes to investigate. He is stabbed, and while running away from the mysterious masked figure, he enters a secret lab in the neighboring field. While hiding from the masked figure, he is transported back in time one hour and makes some amazing discoveries about himself. What must he do, and what is he willing to do, to restore the life he had before his accidental time-traveling adventure? The story illustrates the complexities of time-travel and what having multiple "you"-beings in existence at once can lead to. Very entertaining and a definite "much watch."
Peter McGinn2021-08-05
★ 9/10
Before I say a word about the movie itself, let me advise you that if you haven’t already seen the preview for this movie, do yourself a favor and Don’t Watch It! Never have I known a preview to give so much away, and it it is particularly heinous in this case as it is a time travel movie, with plot shifts that should be experienced in real time, so to speak. I would have been some old mad if I had watched the preview first. But on to the movie itself. This is a Spanish language movie with subtitles, but that didn’t detract from my enjoyment of it. It is nicely set up and cleverly done. At one point I guessed right about a little plot twist I saw coming, but there was much more I didn’t predict, which brings us back to how glad I am I didn’t watch that preview. I expect this was a low budget film and there aren’t many characters in it, so don’t expect a glitzy production with awesome special effects. It just tells the story. I did feel like Hector made a couple of really stupid decisions along the way, but I cut it some slack because without them we have a boring half-hour movie! Okay, I will stop talking about what happens so as not to possibly give anything away. If you like time travel stories as I do, and are intrigued by the anomalies and problems such fictional activity can cause, give this movie a try.