As we’ve all come to experience at one time or another, our perception of time can vary based on situations and circumstances. Two hours can feel like a day, while two days can fly by like minutes. But through and through two minutes, while sometimes feeling like an instance, can be the deciding factor between life and death. Fortune and poverty. And often times it can be what helps us either escape fate, or confront it head on.
Kato, the owner of Cafe Phalam, goes back to his apartment above the cafe after finishing up work for the day. When he is about to play his guitar, Kato himself suddenly appears on his TV screen and begins speaking. “I’m the future me. Two minutes in the future.” The TV in Kato’s room and the TV in the cafe below are somehow connected with a time difference of two minutes. Confused, Kato goes to the TV in the cafe as told by the two-minutes-into-the-future version of himself, and begins talking to himself in the past. Discovering the existence of the “Time TV,” he eagerly learns about what lies in the distant future, or Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes.
I have to admit that Junta Yamaguchi’s science fiction comedy completely took me by surprise. What I expected to be an absurdist drama comedy, ends up being a really inventive and engrossing tale about time travel (with excellent turns by Kazunari Tosa, and Aki Asakura), and how much two minutes can mean in the grand scope of life. “Beyond the Infinite…” is a completely disarming amalgam of science fiction, comedy, existentialism, and a little bit of horror thrown in for good measure. The aspect of time travel is horrifying in and of itself, but Junta Yamaguchi keeps it simple with a very minimalist setting as well as a short time span.
While two minutes in the future and the past don’t seem like much, it not only makes so much difference, but it begins to decide how and when our characters act. Deep down “Beyond the Infinite…” is about the futility of looking back and looking forward. Rather than living for tomorrow, or dwelling on the past, “Beyond the Infinite…” asks us to sometimes live in the moment and let life decide if we’re suited to keep pressing forward. Even when you’re anxious about the future, it’s best not to let it decide how you’re going to spend the rest of your life. It’s not to say that “Beyond the Infinite…” isn’t a movie for fans of time travel genre fare.
It’s definitely a genre picture in the realm of “Triangle” and “Groundhog Day.” It just does so much more with its premise and concept than what we see on the surface. I really hope “Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes” takes the festivals by storm, as it promises to be yet another of the great (and compact!) genre imports from Asia that deserves a following.
This film is part of Fantaspoa, which runs for free on the streaming platform Darkflix, from April 9th through the 18th. All film screenings are geo-blocked to Brazil, with additional details available at www.fantaspoa.com.