Listeners, we’ll be honest – this one made us a little nervous. We don’t really do ‘serious’ here at Beyond The Box Set, and while See You Yesterday is a great fit for our time jump mini-season, it’s unflinching depiction of police brutality and racism could have been a hard sell to discuss light-heartedly without us both coming off like terrible people.
Fortunately, as thought provoking and emotional as See You Yesterday is, it’s also first and foremost a hugely entertaining sci-fi adventure. Co-written and directed by Stefon Bristol from an earlier short, the film stars emerging talents Eden Duncan-Smith and Danté Crichlow as CJ and Sebastian, two gifted teen engineers who casually invent a working time machine while working on a high school science project.
The first third of the movie wears its heavy Back to the Future influences on its sleeve – right down to a brief Michael J. Fox cameo – before the film takes a dramatic turn that pushes the narrative in an entirely different direction.
To reveal too much more would be to spoil one of the most interesting films we’ve watched in a while, so suffice to say that we both recommend See You Yesterday very highly indeed – it’s a whip-smart and inventive movie that knows exactly what it wants to say and balances a potentially difficult tone uncommonly well.
It’s available on Netflix now, so check it out and let us know what you thought in the comments – and download this week’s episode to hear our take, our drinking game suggestions and the usual sequel pitchin’ shenanigans.
We’d usually use this space to beg for reviews and to flog our Patreon wares, but that doesn’t feel quite appropriate this week. Instead, we’d like to gently encourage you to check out some BLM charities, do some learning, make your voice heard – or just make a point of watching a few more films by directors who aren’t white men.
If you’re interested in the former, here are some very good foundations who are well worth your support:
Join us next week for more time travel madness from an actor who’s virtually made a career out of defying the ageing process. Until then, happy listening!