Needle in a Timestack

Needle in a Timestack (2021) is a movie my wife and I recently watched on Amazon Prime. The storyline follows a futuristic society where rich people can pay to go back in time and relive, see and experience other eras. Unfortunately sometimes they change the future, on purpose or by accident. Two men who used to be friends aren't so much any more after one of the friends marries the other's ex-wife. The rich friend is perceived to be trying to change the past to get his ex-wife back while the married friend is obsessed with the notion whether true or not which may be causing his marriage to fall apart.

This movie is directed by John Ridley (Cold Around the Heart) and stars Leslie Odom Jr. (One Night in Miami), Orlando Bloom (Lord of the Rings), Freida Pinto (Slumdog Millionaire), Cynthia Erivo (Harriet) and Ulka Simone Mohanty (Soul).

This picture has a fantastic cast that is unfortunately under utilized. The movie has great dialogue and a unique premise. The characters are good and the circumstances are clever; unfortunately the overall execution is bad. There's too much focus on Odom's character looking lost and confused and not enough on the La Jolla friendship, the various back stories, and characters are used in an in-and-out fashion rather than a good mix of using them all together to understand the relationships, inner demons and why things are how they are. The ending is just okay and also could have been better.

This is a film with a lot of potential due to the great cast and premise but is executed poorly. I would score this a 5.5/10 and recommend watching once if nothing better is available.