This movie’s premise of a man looking for a partner to join him in time travel is only a facade. That’s not to say the real story is hidden; it’s not. The real story very quickly takes center stage. Both the façade and the real story are all about doubt. I’m not a big fan of exposition. I’d rather have the movie tell the story through implication of scene structure, buried hints in the dialog, and the flow of events. Safety Not Guaranteed takes great care to make sure that doubt about ourselves, our actions, other people, and their actions are explored so gently that we aren’t aware of our constant waffling until the movie’s climax. And even then, when we have a resolution, we can’t help but waffle some more, and query what’s going to happen, did happen, or will happen. And since that was the goal of Safety Not Guaranteed, I count it as a successful film.
