If you are well-versed in British comedy, specifically British comedy that has a dark and twisted edge, you probably have heard of Alice Lowe. Having made a name for herself from the British horror parody television series Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace, to the black comedy Sightseers that she co-wrote and starred in, Lowe made her directorial debut feature Prevenge, in which she played a pregnant widow who is convinced her fetus is compelling her to embark on a killing spree.
You might be thinking that Lowe is dark and twisted deep down with her imagination let loose to comedic effect, as evident in her first directorial feature in eight years. Casting herself in the titular role, Timestalker introduces Lowe as Agnes, who falls in love with the wrong man Alex (Aneurin Barnard) and then gets reincarnated and falls in love with him over and over again, travelling through multiple periods of time.
You heard the old cliche of love at first sight, and no doubt there have been many films that are rooted in that concept; there’s even a Netflix romantic comedy called Love at First Sight. However, the way Timestalker introduces it through the perspective of Agnes seeing for the first time Alex’s handsomeness, it doesn’t feel that romantic, especially when Alex is about to be executed, only for Agnes getting accidently killed in the process. During her final seconds of life, Agnes is determined to see who she thinks the love of her life once again.
As Timestalker jumps from one timeframe to the next, it always seems to arrive at the same conclusion, which is our flawed heroine having a gruesome death in pursuit of her ideal man, who is flawed in his way. In just one short scene, a whole time period is devoted to one of these deaths, and it is black comedy genius. There is an air of Sightseers in the deaths themselves, which are grim, but hilarious. The rest of the humor is on Lowe’s shoulders, which ranges from deadpan quotes to obsessive outburst, whilst never losing sight of delivering a dramatic performance.
Agnes is not a likeable protagonist and through her time-travelling odyssey where there are numerous obstacles in her own way, including Nick Frost as a fun recurring antagonist. However, there are Jacob Anderso’s Scipio and Tanya Reynolds’ Meg, both of whom serve as a voice of reason towards Agnes, who is consumed by her obsession as her journey is not to find love, but freedom from both her mental state and outside forces, such as Frost’s George who is going through his own obsession.
Shot in Cardiff and Wales, this low-budget British production looks limitless in showcasing its time-travelling premise. Going through 1680s western Scotland, rural England in the 1790s and 1980s Manhattan, Lowe and her filmmaking crew revel in the style of each setting, such as the great attention to detail such as the costuming which is slightly heightened. From the neon-pink glow in the cinematography, to the immersive sound design, there are echoes of Terry Gilliam through Lowe’s direction that pushes the technical boundaries with what you can do within British cinema.
