Project Almanac

What would an unpopular high-school nerd do with a time machine? Project Almanac, a teen-boy thriller about a team of high-schoolers who reboot a time machine, spends 106 minutes answering that predictable question.

High-schooler David (Jonny Weston) is smart enough to get into MIT, but not rich enough to afford it. To find inspiration for a scholarship, he rummages through the half-finished projects left behind by his deceased engineer father. He finds something better: a home video of his seventh birthday, in which he spots his 17-year-old self’s reflection in the mirror.

David soon stumbles upon his father’s blueprint for a time machine—it’s destiny!—and vaults right into rebuilding that time machine. His sister Christina (Ginny Gardner) documents every moment with a video camera, while his geeky pals Adam (Allen Evangelista) and Quinn (Sam Lerner) provide comic relief and technical support.

Giddy with power, the gang discusses what to do next. “You have to kill Hitler—that’s time travel 101!” Quinn exclaims. Instead, they jump into other more important missions: passing a pop quiz, pranking the school bully, winning a $1.8 million lottery, and slipping into Lollapalooza with months-old VIP tickets bought on eBay. It’s at that music festival that David finally lands a smooch on Jessie (Sofia Black-D’Elia), the popular hottie he’s been stalking for months.

It’s Christina’s unsteady, potty-mouthed footage that we pretend to watch as an audience (Project Almanac is rated PG-13 for language and sexual content). The pretend-amateurish visual effect, however, gets nauseating and annoying, and one starts wondering when the professional adults will grab back that camera.

No surprise, their juvenile adventures ripple off serious consequences and agonizing choices.

Project Almanac is as intense as a teenage fantasy can get. The acting’s decent—Weston blushes a convincing schoolboy crush—and you’ll fish some semi-deep messages wading amid the shallowness, but it’ll make an older audience feel glad that high school is over.