While the majority of the time travel media adheres to the basic linear timeline concept, where minuscule changes of events and actions in the past can trigger massive changes to redefine the course of the future, the complexities of the linear progression of time set up the grandfather paradox, and so on and so forth. This not only makes for a much interesting discourse on the concept of time travel, but at the same time also increases difficulties for the creators to navigate through intricate challenges posed by the plot itself. To avoid such complications, the concept of a branched timeline has proven to be an effective shortcut in recent years, which is based on the idea that changes in the past don’t directly affect the future itself but instead create an alternate future. This is the basic precept of timeline-oriented shenanigans in Netflix’s recently released sci-fi thriller, Time Cut, as a time-hopping serial killer ends up creating multiple timelines while going on a killing spree.
Spoilers Ahead
Time Travel Device Explained
The process of moving across timestreams involves a necessary plot device, which needs to be simple and appealing. Time Cut features one such kind of time-travel device, which uses collision between matter and anti-matter to create a microscopic wormhole, which allows a person to move across a spacetime continuum. As Quinn and Lucy find out after accessing the mainframe of the device, such a reaction is made possible when the laser inside the device hits some form of supercharged isotope of rubidium, which acts as anti-matter. It should be mentioned that the collision of the given particles creates an explosion and produces gamma rays in real life; the wormhole part is just a plot convenience.Â
The flow of time is not linear in Time Cut. Instead of considering the traditional allusion of time as a flowing river, here time is like a tree where new timelines are created the moment an event creates an offshoot branch like the future. A unique feature of the time travel device in Time Cut is that after sending subjects across a certain point in time, it moves along with them as well. This is another way for the makers to bypass the paradox, which makes traveling to a time when the said time machine didn’t exist virtually impossible. The movie doesn’t address the identity of the maker of the time machine, but it seems the malevolent, dark self of Quinn was responsible for its creation. The existence of three distinctive timelines is addressed in Time Cut, and Quinn is responsible for creating two of them.Â
The Original Timeline
The first and original timeline is the one where Quinn doesn’t invent or use the time machine to begin with, which means he doesn’t become the Sweetly Slasher later in his life. In this timeline, Summer, Brian, Val, and Emmy don’t meet their untimely end, and as a result, Lucy is never born. On the other hand, Summer fails to acknowledge the relationship she shared with Emmy, probably living a closeted life in the future as there is no Lucy in this timeline to motivate her to take command of her own life. Quinn’s life probably turns miserable at the hands of the bullies, with no one to stand up for him, and his bitterness and resentment grow as a result. This timeline is mostly speculative and has not been tampered with any alterations.
Future Quinn’s Altered Timeline
This version of the timeline is created by future Quinn, who invented the time machine, and in a horrendous way of getting even with his tormentors, decided to kill every one of them by traveling back in 2003 and hiding into the timestream. This is the timeline viewers become familiar with on the first occasion, when Summer and her close friends fall victim to the Sweetly Slasher. To assuage the pain of Summer’s passing, her parents decide to have another child, and as a result, Lucy is born. Ethan, Summer’s clingy ex-boyfriend, is suspected as the serial killer by Summer’s mother, while the real killer goes scot-free. Future Quinn completes his revenge, and Lucy ends up living in the shadow of her sister—not really able to assert herself due to her parents acting overbearing and remaining distant from her. Lucy never gets to utilize her potential as she doesn’t pursue her internship at NASA, following her father’s request to stay close to the family. In this timeline, Lucy never traveled to 2003, never got to know her elder sister and Quinn, and remained a reserved, introverted individual.
Lucy’s Altered Timeline
Finally, we have the timeline where Lucy found the time machine and arrived in 2003, which caused a significant number of alterations in the process. Lucy’s encouragement helped her sister, Summer, finally come out and acknowledge her relationship with Emmy. Lucy helped Quinn to become a more sociable person, and thanks to her association, Quinn’s life never took the dark turn. Lucy herself found a more loving, warm version of her parents and was able to form a much-needed emotional bond with her sister, Summer. However, not all of this timeline is sunshine and roses, as Lucy and co. weren’t able to save Brian and Val from Sweetly Slasher, and due to Lucy’s intervention, a poor guard lost his life at the hands of the serial killer as well. But then again, in this timeline, the killer is finally brought to justice as Lucy kills the real perp, a dark, future self of Quinn. Ultimately, Lucy chooses to stay in this timeline, as for her it was much better than the one she had to leave. She even got the chance to pursue her NASA internship in this timeline, utilizing her potential without constraints imposed by her overbearing parents.
