In Time (2011)
- To accurately portray their role in In Time, Amanda Seyfried spent weeks conducting hands-on research and rehearsing directly with director Andrew Niccol.
- In Time utilized mostly practical sets and locations to ground the story, a specific choice insisted upon by Andrew Niccol.
In Time is a 2011 American dystopian science fiction thriller written and directed by Andrew Niccol. Justin Timberlake stars as Will Salas, a factory worker in a future society where people are genetically engineered to stop aging at 25, after which they must earn, steal, or inherit additional time โ displayed as a glowing countdown on their forearm โ or die when their clock reaches zero. Time has literally become the currency of this world: coffee costs four minutes, a bus ride costs two hours, and the wealthy live forever in luxurious "time zones" while the poor die daily in the ghettos when they can't earn enough to make it through the night.
Andrew Niccol's high-concept premise โ a literal embodiment of the phrase "time is money" โ was one of the most inventive science fiction concepts of its decade, creating a world where wealth inequality is expressed with elegant, terrifying clarity. The film's central metaphor resonated particularly in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis and the emerging Occupy Wall Street movement. Amanda Seyfried co-starred as Sylvia Weis, the daughter of a time-banking magnate who joins Will's Robin Hood-style rebellion.
Cillian Murphy provided a compelling antagonist as a "Timekeeper" โ essentially a police officer tasked with maintaining the economic order. While some critics felt the execution didn't fully realize the concept's potential, In Time earned $174 million worldwide on a $40 million budget. The film's premise has proven remarkably prescient and influential.
