I’ve watched enough Doctor Who to know time is a complicated construct with rules fluctuating from one interpretation to the next. Thankfully, Rhys Darby’s Casper has time travel all figured out in Relax, I’m From the Future, a new time-traveling comedy that finally breaks the multiversal merry-go-round we’ve been riding for the past few years. In today’s exclusive Relax, I’m From the Future clip, Casper dismisses the Butterfly Effect and misinformation about multiple realities.
The scene finds Casper and Holly (Gabrielle Graham) discussing multiversal misnomers in a dimly lit diner over piping hot mugs of jitter juice. Casper explains how there’s only one reality, and that time is more like a mushy blob than anything we’ve seen in movies. Doc Brown lied to us, folks! Oh, the humanity! While branching paths in the timeline exist, they eventually converge in the same direction, leading toward a pre-determined future. Still, pivotal events such as life, death, political dealings, and significant world events determine our future. When Holly looks unconvinced, Casper attempts to prove his point, but funnily enough, his timing is a bit off.
Here’s the official synopsis for Relax, I’m From The Future:
Relax, I’m From The Future follows CASPER, a charming but embarrassingly underprepared Time Traveler, now trapped in the past. When he befriends HOLLY, a jaded drifter, she helps him exploit his trivial knowledge of the future for a series of quick payouts, oblivious to the consequences they have set in motion. When DORIS, a more competent Time Traveler, tracks them down, Casper and Holly are forced to figure out exactly what they mean to each other and whether the future they’ve threatened is even worth saving. Will they embrace their fate, or do they have the courage to change it?
Darby (What We Do In The Shadows, Flight of the Conchords), Graham (Possessor, On the Basis of Sex), and Theriault (Murder Most Likely, Pompeii), and Julian Richings (Man of Steel, Beau Is Afraid) lead the cast, with Zachary Bennett (The Umbrella Academy, Cube Zero), and Louisa Zhu (Rising Suns, Ghostwriter).
The sci-fi comedy hails from Luke Higginson for his feature directorial debut. In addition to operating the camera, Higginson wrote the screenplay and edited the film inspired by his short film of the same name that premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival 10 years ago.
Relax, I’m From The Future premiered last month at Montreal’s Fantasia Fest to enthusiastic critical acclaim. The film debuts in the United States on September 22, 2023, and opens theatrically in Canada on October 6, 2023.