‘Time Cut’ Movie Cast And Characters Guide

Netflix’s 2024 sci-fi thriller Time Cut manages to capture the nostalgic vibe of the early 2000s through its time-travel narrative, and to emulate the teen drama of the period, the majority of the characters, except for Lucy, who belongs to the present timeline, are deliberately presented as stereotypes. While the plot itself doesn’t offer much scope for the characters to make a mark, the feel-good factor of seeing familiar teen drama tropes playing out might feel endearing to the intended audience. 

Lucy Field Played by Madison Bailey

Actor Madison Bailey is relatively well known thanks to her multiple small screen appearances. She played the role of Wendy Hernandez in CW’s superhero series, Black Lightning, and also appeared in Netflix’s hit series, Outer Banks, where she portrayed the role of Kiara. In Time Cut, Madison plays the lead role of Lucy Field, a genius teenager who finds herself bogged down by the tragic death of her elder sister. The first time Lucy is introduced to the audience, she doesn’t seem to have a strong bond with her family, given the fact that her parents are too traumatized by the death of their first child to even recognize Lucy’s emotional needs. Lucy finds it difficult to connect with the memories of Summer as she didn’t even know her to begin with. The only person with whom Lucy is shown to be able to connect is her physics teacher, who recognizes her talent and persuades her to achieve her dreams. 

Despite having the chance of pursuing a promising academic career, Lucy has to refuse it for the sake of her parents, whose fear, stemming from the trauma of losing Summer, prompts them to implore Lucy to stay close to her family. Lucy’s identity crisis is revealed to have made her reserved, as much later she mentions how she generally doesn’t speak with anyone on the phone. All of these reasons compound together for Lucy to prompt her in making the final decision to leave her life behind to live in the altered past, where she has found everything that she dearly missed. However, unlike future Quinn, Lucy’s personal demons never got a hold of her mind as her strong moral compass allowed her to stand for those in need—Quinn in this case. She motivated her sister to come out and accept herself without fearing persecutions, prioritized saving the victims of Sweetly Slasher despite having the risk of her future altered in major ways, and ultimately made her sister’s life a priority even with the possibility of wiping herself out of existence for doing so. It is ironic that in the context of the entire narrative, Lucy can be considered an anomaly from an alternate timeline who wasn’t supposed to be born had the original timeline not been altered, because her presence proves to be the most crucial factor in the end to untangle the time-hopping serial killer mystery. 

Summer Field Played By Antonia Gentry

Actor Antonia Gentry has been appearing on the screen for little over a decade, and audiences who regularly binge Netflix ventures might recognize for playing the lead role of the TV series Ginny and Georgia. She plays the role of Lucy’s elder sister, Summer Field, in Time Cut, and her character is introduced as a stereotypical fashionista teenager. In many ways, Lucy and Summer stand in total contrast to each other, as unlike her sister, Summer has an active social life, more liberating presence of their parents, and everything else Lucy wanted to have as well. However, despite being a kind and empathetic person, Summer doesn’t find it easy to stand up for others, or even for herself. Despite seeing her friend, Quinn, in jeopardy, Summer didn’t step up to protect him, and fearing social stigma, she couldn’t acknowledge the relationship she shared with Emmy in front of her parents. After arriving in 2003 and going through a series of events, Lucy eventually realized that this altered timeline is the home she always needed, and the truth is, Summer too needed Lucy as the sister she never knew she had. Thanks to Lucy, Summer finds a new perspective and is able to take control of her own life without fearing judgment. 

Quinn Played by Griffin Gluck

Actor Griffin Gluck has had a prominent acting career that includes playing silver screen, small screen, and voice acting roles since a pretty young age. Some of his notable credits include playing the role of Michael in Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston starring rom-com Just Go With It, Charlie in Red Band Society, and Gabe in Locke and Key. In Time Cut, Griffin portrays the role of Quinn, a nerdy genius whose actions are the fulcrum that controls the narrative. Quinn hails from a humble background and has troubling parental issues, the latter of which allows him to connect with Lucy Field, the time-displaced teenage sister of Summer, as she too shares a similar complication. Quinn appears to be a helpful and kind person but has certain negative tendencies, which later take disastrous shape after he gets tormented by high school bullies. One of Quinn’s odd tendencies is highlighted in the alternate timeline when Lucy saves him from getting bullied, and the first reaction he comes up with is that he doesn’t need a girl to fight for him. Given the fact he belongs to an era when being nerdy was the epitome of being uncool, Quinn is shown to be introverted and lacks social cues. Quinn finds a good friend in Lucy, who helps him to get over his troubling tendencies and helps him to become the best version of himself in the process. The absence of a friendly presence in his life triggered Quinn’s latent toxic mentality in the first place, which turned him into a serial killer, but in the altered timeline, he has been able to overcome those traits with Lucy’s assuring presence by his side and probably will use his talents for greater good in the future. 

Miscellaneous Characters

Aside from the trio of mainstay characters, the supporting cast did a really good job despite having minimal screen time. Actor Michael Shanks as Lucy and Summer’s father, Gil Field, and Rachel Crawford as their mother Kendra Field, had to portray two different versions of same characters – similar to what Griffin Gluck had to do as Future Quinn, but the veteran actors have definitively shown better nuance in their portrayal. Actor Megan Best plays Emmy, whose connection with Summer was noticeable but could have been explored a bit more. Among Summer’s other friends, Brian is portrayed by actor Kataem O’Connor, the class bully Ethan is played by Samuel Braun, and Sydney Sabiston played the role of Val.