PRIMER (2004) - ILLUSTRATED EXPLANATION

in 2004 a low-budget science-fiction film took Sundance by storm primer is quite possibly the most complex time-travel film ever made with multiple timelines multiple doubles and dishonesty between the key players filmmaker and former engineer Steve Carruth determinedly refused to dumb down the dialogue to make the film easier to decipher instead he decided to trust that his audience would return to the film again and again in order to fully understand it today I've decided to take a closer look at primer and break it all down obviously I'm going to assume you've already seen this film and are reasonably familiar with the events that take place within the story to friends Abe and Aaron have inadvertently invented time travel and they initially intend to use their time machine to make money on the stock market if they follow a few simple rules everything should work out fine but over the course of only a handful of days they deceive each other create multiple timelines and doubles and in short messed things up pretty royally for themselves the key to understanding primer is to focus on the people and things that matter and discard everything else so with that in mind let's familiarize ourselves with the characters in this story and decide who to pay attention to you there is a band Aaron who have discovered time travel so they are obviously very important there is Robert and Phillip there are colleagues and friends of a band Aaron but they aren't let in on the secret of time travel and have little to no real effect on the story similarly you can dismiss Cora and Lainey who are Aaron's wife and daughter respectively they too don't affect the story in any major way then there is Rachael Granger she is Abe's love interest although ape seems to only be using her to get close to her wealthy father mr. Granger who ape host will invest money into his and his friends inventions although mr. Granger's first appearance in the film is fleeting he turns out to be quite important to the story Rachael has a crazy ex boyfriend who still holds a torch for her in fact in the film Aaron attends a party where the ex hands up and threatens Rachel with a shot luckily Aaron was a hero and successfully disarmed ex-boyfriend the incident at the party is a pivotal moment in the film and finally we have the character of Platt Platt is never actually seen in the film but he is referred to several times both Abe and Aaron disliked him because in the past he cheated them out of a successful invention and went on to make a lot of money for himself Aaron mentions in the film how he would very much like to punch Platt in the face what I would do I would wake up tomorrow morning and I go over to Gabriel Capital Inc and I would tell Joseph Platts reception's that I'm there to see him and when he comes out I would have my fist at the flat of his nose just one good punch one good lad and Aaron's desire to punch him is also important to the story so remember him and remember the punch in summary the important characters and incidents in the film are a band Aaron Rachel her ex-boyfriend and the incident at the party Rachel's father mr. Granger Platt and Abe and Aaron's desire to punch him so let's talk about how this time machine works I'll call it the box from now on as that's how its referred to in the film the box must be switched on at the time you want to travel back in time to so this means if you wanted to time travel back to Monday morning at 9:00 a.m. you will first need to turn the box on at Monday morning 9:00 a.m. as Abe was the first person to figure out how the box works let's do a walk-through of an example of his first time travelling journey on Monday morning Abe switches on the box at 9:00 a.m. Abe then goes to a hotel room and locks himself away the reason why Abe holds himself away in the hotel room is because he does not want to influence the world in any way during the next few hours Abe then finds out what stocks have gone up in that day he will use this knowledge to make money on the markets when he repeats the day after time traveling back at 3:00 p.m. ed decides he's ready to travel back in time and he enters the box the yellow line is our time line and it length indicates roughly what time the event or incident we are talking about happens during the day 8 then spend six hours in the box traveling back in time to 9 a.m. that morning so now that Abe has traveled back it's Monday morning take 2 at 9:00 a.m. there are two Abe's in existence at the same time the one who is switching on the box and heading to the hotel and the one who has just emerged from the box to differentiate them less cool the original Abe Abe zero and the double who has just emerged from the box Abe one while Abe zero is hiding away in the hotel Abe one plays the stock market's Apes zero is hiding because both the Apes know that as they share one identity they can't both go around influencing the world at the same time so while Abe one uses his stock market knowledge to make money Abe zero tries to eliminate his influence on the world by hiding away there can't be two Abe's in existence forever but that's not a problem when Monday 3:00 p.m. hits once again Abe's ero will get in the box to begin his journey back to 9 a.m. essentially disappearing into the past meanwhile a 1 will continue to progress forward before any time-traveling took place in the film f 0 realized that there was a chance he or Aron could cause havoc with timelines and their futures so he took the precaution of creating a fail-safe box this failsafe box is another time-traveling box that was switched on early Monday morning say 5 a.m. a zero hid this failsafe box away and kept it in case things went horribly wrong if there was an emergency a future Abe let's stop him Abe F for the purposes of the illustration could use this failsafe box at any time he could go all the way back to Monday morning before he had ever started to time-travel and prevent a zero from entering the box in the first place if that set of circumstances were to play out there would result in to Abe's being present in the same timeline at the same time so future Abe who has come back to stop all the time traveling and Abe zero who has yet to start time-traveling a present in the same instance this of course creates a problem they can't go about living a life with one identity between them if a future Abe had to come back to the very beginning one of the Abe's would have to disappear and create an entirely new life for themselves so now that we have established how time travel works let's unravel the series of events in primer as they unfold a few liberties will be taken here to make it easier to explain first all the times will be rounded off and second there will be a few assumptions with regards to what happens during some periods which are not shown in the film because as anyone who has seen the film will know not everything that matters to the story is shown some incidents are only alluded to and finally in this breakdown I have assumed the minimum number of time-traveling journeys necessary for all the events to fit so with all of that being said let's follow Abe and Aaron from Monday through to Friday Monday 5 a.m. Abe's Eero turns on the failsafe box and leaves it hidden away 9 a.m. a Pierrot turns on the box we'll be using to time-travel back to Monday 9 a.m. f0 spends the rest of the day holed up in a hotel 3 p.m. Abe's zero returns to the box and crimes in he's going to travel back to the morning after six hours in the box Abe emerges but this time he is Abe 1 it is 9 a.m. on Monday morning once again and a 1 will be able to live out the next 6 hours once more while Abe 0 is on his way to the hotel where he will hide out everyone makes his way to Aaron who is sitting on a bench apparently listening to March Madness everyone reveals all to his friend as Harun will begin time travelling pretty soon let's call him Aaron zero during the day Abe 1 slowly introduces Aaron 0 to the concept of time traveling in between all of this at some point Aaron zero plays basketball with a friend and invites him to a party later that night and also tells him to bring along Rachel's ex as she will be there at 3 p.m. a blonde takes Aaron zero to the place where he keeps the time traveling boxes and a witness Abe zero just as he is getting ready to go into the box to begin his journey to the past later that evening Aaron zero attends a party he invited his friend to earlier in the day a blonde is not present and in the film we don't actually see what took place at the party but from later conversations we understand that at the party Rachel's volatile ex threatened people with a shotgun and Aaron zero managed to disarm him Tuesday Aaron zero has decided he also wants to time travel and make money on the stock markets so at 9:00 a.m. both a 1 and aaron 0 switch on their boxes and Holloway at a hotel at 3 p.m. Abe 1 and Aaron 0 get into their boxes and time travel back to 9:00 a.m. that same morning they emerge from their boxes as Abe 2 and Aaron 1 it is Tuesday 9:00 a.m. once again while a1 and Aaron 0 once more make their way to the hotel Abe to an errand 1 make money on the stock markets once 3 p.m. hits a 1 and Aaron 0 get into their boxes and disappear into the past and aid - and Aaron 1 go back to living their lives and now here's where it's going to get complicated Aaron one has found out about the failsafe but has kept quiet about his knowledge and at some point on Tuesday Aaron 1 decides that he needs to use the failsafe and go back to Monday morning once more now the reason for this seems to be about Rachel's ex it appears that Aaron 1 is not satisfied with the outcome of the party he believes the ex is still a danger and presumably wants to come back in order to deal with the ex more effectively so Aaron wand uses a fail-safe box and returns to Monday morning 5:00 a.m. he emerges as Aaron - Aaron 2 sets up to disassembled time-traveling boxes he has brought back with him he immediately switches them on one is for him and one is for Abe these boxes will allow them to come back once more to Monday 5 a.m. should they need to Aaron T applies to replay and record the day in order to repeat Monday as often as he needs to in order to get rid of the X for good but there is a serious repercussions to Aaron T's plan on Monday morning 5 a.m. he exists at the same time as Aaron 0 who at this point is blissfully unaware of anything related to time travel as a one has not had his conversation with Aaron zero yet in order to make sure that Aaron two can go through Monday and record all of the pivotal conversations Aaron two needs to knock Aaron zero out of the equation and take over his identity he does this by drugging his breakfast and storing Aaron zero away in his attic at 9:00 a.m. everyone returns to Monday 9:00 a.m. while Abe zero hose away at the hotel Aaron to waits for a one to meet him at the bench remember the first time we ran through Monday Aaron zero appeared to be listening to March Madness or guess what he wasn't he was actually recording his conversation with Abe won the Aaron zero we thought we saw was actually Aaron two in the film in fact we never really saw the very first time a one talk to Aaron zero about time travel we only see the version where Aaron two has come back and is recording their conversation a blonde and Aaron to then live at Monday once again Aaron two again invites his friend and Rachel's ex to the party that will be held later that night at 3:00 p.m. they want more watch as a zero gets into the box and in the evening Aaron - once again attends a party where he disarms Rachel's ex the following day Tuesday at 9:00 a.m. a won and Aaron to switch on the boxes and Holloway in a hotel and wait for 3 p.m. at 3 p.m. day time travel back to Tuesday 9 a.m. becoming aid - and Aaron 3 as a blonde and Aaron - Holloway in the hotel Abe - and Aaron three play the markets at 3 p.m. a 1 and Aaron to enter the boxes and disappear into the past Abe - and Aaron 3 go home to spend the evening hanging out an Aaron threes house there they discuss the implications of time travel with Aaron threes wife in a roundabout way this is when Aaron three confesses how much he would love to experience punching Platt in the face just once and then he would go back in time and tell himself not to do it Abe - is concerned about the idea because it would mean Aaron three speaking with double and they simply don't understand the repercussions that would come from that during this conversation Aaron threes wife mentions hearing rats in the Attic and eritrea brushes it off those rats are in fact Aaron zero who is still trapped in the Attic at this point it's not clear what Aaron three intends to do with Aaron zero as we have previously discussed both God exists in the same timeframe indefinitely did you can't pass control babe they're Birds you don't want a bunch of dead baby birds up there do you they don't sound like birds thanks for a rat somatic Wednesday at 9 a.m. 82 and Aaron 3 switch on their boxes and as is becoming routine for them they hold themselves away in a hotel room they discussed the fact that Aaron 3 has not revealed anything to his wife and interestingly Aaron 3 mentions that he might fly himself and his family away to Costa Rica is this a clue to Aaron threes ultimate plan is he intending to take his family away and leave Aaron zero in the Attic it's not clear but it could be a possibility at 3 p.m. aid to an Aaron three returned to their boxes and make the trip back to 9 a.m. that morning becoming a brie and Aaron for back at 9:00 a.m. a - and Aaron three are on their way to the hotel and Abe 3 and Aaron for play the markets as usual that particular day a troubling thing happens to Aaron for he starts bleeding from his year this is presumably because time travel has a bad effect on the time traveler Aaron four by this point has time traveled multiple times at 3 p.m. that doubles Abe - and Aaron 3 go into their boxes an ape 3 and Aaron for continue about their business later that same day Abe 3 lens of the Monday night party incident and he berates Aaron 4 for risking his life in that manner Thursday at 9:00 a.m. Abe 3 and Aaron for switch on their boxes and make their way to the hotel there Aaron 4 receives and takes a call from his wife this is a problem both Apes 3 and Aaron for want to have as little effect on the world around them as possible from the time of switching on their - entering them f3 comes up with a solution if Aaron 4 makes sure not to take his phone back with him to Thursday morning when he becomes Aaron 5 everything will be ok they figured the next instance when Aaron fours wife calls the double in the hotel room will pick up and have the same conversation that iron for has just had at 3 p.m. ape 3 and Aaron for get into their boxes and emerge as a four and iron five on Thursday morning back at 9 a.m. ape 3 and Aaron four are on their way to the hotel and aid for and iron 5 played the markets as usual but foolishly Aaron 5 has brought his phone with him so when his phone rings they realized that Aaron four who is holed up in the hotel room has not received the call as they had meant him to they have broken symmetry and are a little frightened of the repercussions but there is nothing immediate that happens so they calmed down at 3 p.m. their doubles Abe 3 and Aaron 4 go into their boxes and aid for and iron 5 continue about their business Friday on Friday 8 4 and iron 5s routine changes because a four is woken by some children playing about with car alarms at 3 a.m. in the morning there are two things that have been playing on a fours mind first the conversation between him and Aaron 3 back on Tuesday about punching Platt in the face and second the breaking of symmetry that happened with the phone call on Thursday Abe has secretly been turning on the time-travelling boxes at 5 p.m. in the evenings so the previous day on Thursday 5:00 p.m. he turned on the boxes at 3 a.m. on Friday f4 comes up with a plan if he had our own five go to Platts house now and punch him in the face they can use the boxes to return to 5 p.m. on Thursday evening emerging as a 5 and Aaron 6 they can then hide away until 3:00 a.m. Friday morning and scare away the kids from playing with the car alarms which will in turn prevent his double from waking up and coming up with a plan of punching Platt in the face this way they can kill two birds with one stone experience the pleasure of punching Platt in the face and test what happens if symmetry is broken so that's the plan but it doesn't quite pan out let's go back to Friday 3 a.m. aybe for is broken and had the original idea of punching Platt as he and Aaron five are traveling to Platts house they spot mr. Granger earlier that day Aaron five had seen mr. Granger with a cleanly shaven face but that evening mr. Granger seems to be sporting around three days worth of growth and he looks disheveled and unkempt to their panic aim for and Aaron five realized that Granger has somehow found out about the time-traveling boxes and has used one this scares Abe for so much that he decides it's time to use his original filthy or what he thinks is his original failsafe remember that Aaron - actually replaced Abe's failsafe aid for plans to go back on Monday and stop Abe zero and who he thinks is Aaron zero from ever time-traveling in the first place Aaron five independently also decides to go back to Monday morning to although he doesn't know for certain why Granger has come back he puts it down to something to do with Rachel and her ex he decides to go back on Monday and really ensure that the ex gets locked up for good rather than just being disarmed so once again we are back on Monday morning 5 a.m. our five who entered the failsafe on Friday night emerges as parent 6 his n goes to his apartment where Aaron 2 has already taken care of Aaron zero by putting him in the Attic he and Aaron to fight but Aaron 6 is unable to overpower Aaron 2 and instead the two errands talked Aaron 6 explains that he has already recorded all the conversations of the day that he has already disarmed Rachel's crazy ex but that something went wrong in the future that has caused Granger to start traveling back in time Aaron 6 tells Aaron too that he needs to really ensure that Rachel's X is actually locked up there are now three Aaron's in the same timeline Aaron zero in the Attic Aaron 2 + r + 6 Aaron 2 comes to realize that our + 6 is more invested in the plan and so he leaves meanwhile Abe for who entered his failsafe on Friday night emerges as a 5 a 5 then goes to 8 0 gasses him and stashes him in the bathroom to make sure he doesn't do any time traveling there are now 2 Abe's in the same I'm line Abe five and hour and six meet up at the bench as they did that very first Monday but this time and extremely exhausted aide five faints at the time for putting everything out on the table has come on six tells a five everything he has done the additional time traveling the setting up of different failsafe boxes and trying to fix things at the party just as he has done every Monday prior to this final Monday Erin six plays basketball with his friend and invites him and Rachel's ex to the party later that day Erin six manages to convince Abe five to agree to help him with Rachel's crazy ex and they both attend the party on Monday night and at last they are successful in fixing things at the party the next morning after Erin six has a good night's sleep and a five spends all night contemplating what has happened they make their way to the airport our six is going to leave and make a new life for himself Aaron zero who is locked away in the attic will presumably be found and allowed to continue on in relative ignorant a five decides that he's going to stay and ensure that Abe's ero doesn't begin time-traveling at all Erin six thinks his attempts will be futile and the two argued with Erin six making a dig about a five coveting his family the two friends separate their relationship irreparably damaged it seems obvious that time-traveling causes damage to the body this is evidenced by Aaron fours year beginning to bleed aid five passing out and both errands and Abe's noticing that their handwriting deteriorates one theory as to why their handwriting suffered so badly can be traced back to the day Erin and Abe are playing around with the box in the garage before any time-traveling has taken place they both place their hands above the box and in that moment their hands may have traveled back in time while the rest of their bodies remained in the present as a result their hands may be a few moments behind the rest of their bodies causing their hands to be out of sync and this in turn translates into their inability to write properly the voice-over narration that we hear is that of Aaron - who left the story on that final Monday morning after his flight and following conversation with Aaron six Aaron - felt he owed Aaron zero who had drugged and locked in the Attic some kind of explanation and that is a purpose of his phone call here's what's going to happen I'm gonna read this you're gonna listen they're gonna stand the line and you're not gonna interrupt you're gonna speak for any reason some of this you know I'm gonna start at the top of the page this is why Aaron - is unable to relay accurately what happened at the party on that final Monday night it was Aaron six who attended it along with Abe five in the final moments as a film we see Aaron - in a foreign country and not having learnt his lesson he seems to be in the process of building a much larger box so that concludes my explanation and analysis of primer arguably the most challenging time-travel film ever made I hope you enjoyed this video let me know your thoughts in the comments below and make sure to subscribe to London city girl for more film analysis videos thanks for stopping by and supporting my channel and I'll see you next time

Channel: LondonCityGirl

Views: 1,507,852

Keywords: Primer (Film), primer (2004) film, Science Fiction Movies, primer explained and analysed, primer explained simply, primer - an illustrated explanation, Primer film made easy

Id: tUzy-xPf0MI

Length: 23min 19sec (1399 seconds)

Published: Sat Sep 19 2015