Sci-fi is one of the biggest and most popular film genres, but that doesn’t mean every great movie within it has to be a big budget blockbuster. Instead, there are some truly great, thought provoking, and even downright chilling sci-fi films made on much smaller budgets and, while they might not get the attention they deserve, some of them are truly the best the genre has to offer. This month, one such film that stands as one of the best sci-fi thrillers of the 2000s is free to stream and you definitely don’t want to miss it.
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Released in 2008, Timecrimes might not be a sci-fi movie many audiences immediately gravitate to. Not only is it a lower budget production with a $2.6 million budget, it’s also a Spanish film. If neither of those things stop you from checking out great films, however, you’ll be rewarded with a film that has a 90% Rotten Tomatoes approval rating, praised by critics for its well-crafted thriller elements and stunning twists. The film is now streaming for free on Tubi this month.
Timecrimes Is a Twisty Time Travel Sci-Fi Thriller (With Perfect Horror Elements)
Timecrimes follows a man who accidentally finds himself in a causal loop and, as a result, has to stop his other selves from continuing to exist and creating larger problems. On its face that seems simple, but as any sci-fi fan will tell you, there is nothing simple about time travel and there is certainly nothing simple about what Hector gets wrapped up in. We’re not going to spoil things for you — Timecrimes is something you definitely need to watch for yourself — but let’s just say that the more Hector tries to fix things, the more broken they become.
A big part of what makes Timecrimes work so well is that it focuses more on its story than the effects that are usually a critical component of sci-fi. This isn’t a movie of big science and flashy machines. Instead, the mechanic of things are much smaller and quieter. In fact, if it wasn’t for the multiple versions of Hector that we end up encountering throughout, it would be almost easy to forget that this is a science fiction film at all if your particular measurement for such things comes down to technology and effects.
Because the movie leans into its story and the performance of its lead actor, the suspense one would expect from a sci-fi thriller builds much more organically and is, in some respects, much more genuine. It also helps that the movie is fairly brief at just around 92 minutes, which means that any tension and twists are earned and earned in a lean sense that keeps things moving right up to the end. It’s brilliantly done and well worth a watch while it’s available to stream for free this month.
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