Relax, I’m from the Future Review

Summary

• Relax, I’m from the Future explores the battle between nihilism and optimism through its characters, offering thought-provoking discussions on the nature of activism and purpose.
• The comedy in the film benefits from its slower pace, allowing jokes to breathe and build, but the meandering structure and lack of bite in the humor prevent it from fully landing.
• The film’s visual style is well-crafted, using split screens and stylized design to convey playfulness and provide insights into the characters’ lives, but the editing style feels underutilized, missing the opportunity for more creativity. It’s sweet but lacks substance.

The sci-fi comedy, Relax, I’m from the Future, finds a man with a plan traveling to the present day from the future. Rhys Darby of Flight of the Conchords and Our Flag Means Death fame plays the protagonist, Casper, and he is joined by supporting players Gabrielle Graham as Holly, Julian Richings as Percy, and Janine Theriault as Doris. When Casper arrives in the present day, he meets Holly, who houses and clothes him after he promises that he has a plan for their future involving easy income. Unfortunately, Casper’s time travel sets off a series of events that will cause trouble in the world’s timeline, which results in Doris, a guardian of the timeline from the future, coming after them.

In terms of crew, Luke Higginson is the movie’s writer, director, and editor, with this being his feature-length directorial debut. Keeping the cast and crew tight may have been a result of budget constraints, but it has a positive effect on the end result, creating a movie that feels like it was made with care. Careful is a perfect descriptor for Relax, in all senses of the word. It’s evidently a product of a lot of thought and care, but this has both a good and a bad impact on the movie.

Relax, I’m from the Future could be described as kind and gentle, with an easy, uplifting feeling to its narrative. However, on the other hand, there is a glaring lack of bite that prevents the movie’s comedy and emotion from landing perfectly. In the end, it’s hard to fault something for being too well-intentioned, but there is undeniably something missing from this tentative comedy.

Nihilism Vs Optimism

Relax, I’m from the Future

Release Date September 22, 2023

Cast Gabrielle Graham, Rhys Darby, Julian Richings

Runtime 94 min

Genres Sci-Fi, Comedy

At its core, Relax, I’m from the Future is a story about the battle between nihilism and optimism. When Casper meets Holly, she is something of a retired activist, saying, “It feels like way too much work to do something that actually matters.” This is a sentiment repeated a number of times in different words throughout the first two acts of the story, not only from Holly but from Percy, who is headed for an untimely death, and Doris, who is lonely and aimless. Casper, however, is full of optimism and faith in his mysterious plan — another oft-referenced idea.

In particular, Holly’s story is reminiscent of Joy’s in Everything Everywhere All at Once, both being queer women of color struggling to find meaning and purpose. Relax even appears to reference this similarity, when Holly asks Casper if they are in a kind of multi-verse situation, which he calls ridiculous. Interestingly, both of these characters are written by heterosexual men. While neither case results in significant issues, it remains a coincidence worth interrogating. It’s all too clear that the writers of both movies are well-meaning, but is this an unintentional continuation of the way women characters have always been narrative punching bags?

Holly’s character also provides interesting discussions on the potentially performative nature of modern-day activism. The characters ask whether most of what people do is performative and ultimately meaningless. In the present, when everything demands to be documented and displayed, it can be difficult to decipher even in your own mind whether what you’re doing is for the right reasons or not. But, at the same time, these lines of questioning can also be used to justify complacency and apathy. Relax I’m from the Future’s gentle approach to tackling these questions works in its favor here as it doesn’t demonize either thought process, it simply presents them for the audience to chew on.

Aimless Characters, Aimless Structure

When it comes to the comedy in Relax, I’m from the Future, one of its greatest strengths is that it allows its jokes to have room to breathe. When the current popular approach to comedy is to have a joke a minute — as seen in the likes of certain superhero franchises — it’s wonderfully enjoyable to have a slower pace to the dialogue here.

Early on, Casper is proving to Holly that he’s from the future by showing her a strange event that’s about to happen. He directs her attention out of a window, and they wait for a long time before anything happens. The fact that there was time given to this moment allowed for more humor to be built here than is normally the case. For example, Casper does a failed countdown to the event in question, and this is funny precisely because of the amount of time they have been waiting.

Blue Fox Entertainment

On the other hand, the meandering pace and structure has its downsides. This is another area where the gentle (or timid) filmmaking approach impedes the success of the movie. There is a lot of time given to Casper just being silly and “wholesome” in a way that doesn’t do much for the movie. Slower narratives with more room for quiet moments are by no means lesser than those that are more action-packed. But, to be successful, the slow moments should have an emotional, intellectual, or even visual impact on the viewer. Recent Best Picture winners Moonlight and The Shape of Water are excellent examples of narratives that are quiet but are full to the brim with meaning.

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Most significantly, without giving too much away, Relax, I’m from the Future’s final act feels like a better set-up for a story than it does a conclusion. As mentioned, much of the body of the movie feels like a waiting game, so when the action kicks off toward the end, it seems as though everything is finally getting going. The fall-out of the climax would have made a much more stimulating movie than the one we got.

It would have been fascinating to watch how each of these characters reacted to their change in circumstances now that they are indelibly linked. There are moments in this final section that could have raised interesting questions about the idea of whether you would still do something if you knew how it would end, but the opportunity is missed.

Style That Speaks

Blue Fox Entertainment

In addition to a meandering pace having its good and bad moments, Relax, I’m from the Future’s visual style has a similar predicament. There is effort put into its visual style; it uses split screens, character title cards, and stylized costume and production design to good effect. These components all indicate playfulness, while the stylization of costumes and sets provides great unspoken information about these characters and their lives. From the opening scene in which Casper bursts into the present day in an airtight purple suit to Doris’ cold and clinical home, the design of the movie is well thought through.

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Unfortunately, though, when it comes to the editing style, it feels as though Higginson has just scratched the surface of what the movie could look like. The split screens used throughout are a great start, but they just give a taste of what could have been something more committed. The aesthetic brings to mind Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World, which was more stylized due to its comic book origins. They are different movies, and it’s fruitless to say one should be more like the other, but Scott Pilgrim provides a great example of what Relax, I’m from the Future could have done with a little more creativity.

Sweetness Over Substance

Blue Fox Entertainment

Importantly, the central relationship between Casper and Holly is undeniably sweet. There is a freedom to be loose and ridiculous together that is nice to watch, and their connection makes sense in spite of their differing demographics. They connect, grow, and change together, something all good relationships should induce. The movie makes their relationship feel organic and natural, rather than a contrivance to get the plot going.

Its overall message about the value of connection, taking action, and optimism is also a sweet one. The paradox of depression sapping all of your motivation, while motivation is exactly what you need in order to combat it, is a hard pill to swallow. So, this movie being an incentivizing tool that depicts the value of connection, relationships, and taking action is inarguably positive.

For Relax, I’m from the Future, the issue lies in its inability to take the final step in almost every aspect of its makeup — comedy, story, style, and themes. It lacks laugh-out-loud jokes, truly emotional arcs, and moments of shock or excitement. If each of these things were just pushed a little further, the depth of its impact would be increased. Ultimately, it feels like Higginson fell prey to the exact things he was trying to combat, like, to paraphrase Holly, it was too much work to make something that truly matters.

From Wango Films and Game Theory Films, Blue Fox Entertainment is bringing Relax, I’m from the Future to video on demand and digital platforms Nov. 28. You can watch a behind-the-scenes featurette below:

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