ABOUT TIME
An expertly acted, touching celebration of family — for adults only.
Should You Watch It?
ABOUT TIME has real warmth. Its strongest qualities are its expert acting, humor, touching drama, and positive messages about family, children, true love, and spending time with loved ones. As the story moves into marriage and parenthood, it becomes a richer reflection on how people change through life and lifelong relationships.
The film’s content keeps it from being suitable for the whole family. Strong foul language is gratuitous, and brief lewd moments and sex talk could have been left out for artistic as well as moral reasons. The time-travel premise also involves pagan magical thinking.
If you are an older teenager or adult seeking uplifting entertainment and can exercise discernment about the content, you may find much to appreciate; for children and young teens, choose another film. The practical answer: WORTH THE TRIP — ADULTS ONLY.
The Story
NO SPOILERS — WE KEEP THE SURPRISESTim is a geeky man in his 20s who has never had much luck with love. Then his father reveals that the men in their family possess a secret ability to transform the past of their own personal lives and circumstances through time travel.
Tim uses this ability in romantic and humorous attempts to improve his relationships. When he meets an American woman named Mary, he tries to win her over while keeping his extraordinary secret hidden.
Is It Any Good?
Three stars means ABOUT TIME is good, appealing entertainment with noticeable flaws. It is expertly acted, funny, and touching, especially as it grows from a clever romantic comedy into a richer drama about marriage, family, children, and the changes life brings.
The weakness is its length and structure. The film feels stretched and overlong as it moves through one relationship resolution after another. That is a relatively small problem for viewers who enjoy uplifting entertainment, but it keeps the movie from being as strong as its best moments suggest.
The Worldview
ABOUT TIME has a romantic worldview, but its outlook is strongly supported by positive messages about family and children. It celebrates the importance of family, the value of true love, spending time with loved ones, marriage, and the changes that come with having children. The film also presents sobriety as a good outcome for an alcoholic character after a dangerous DUI accident.
The film’s time-travel device introduces pagan magical thinking. Tim uses a secret ability to reconstruct past events and change circumstances to his advantage, which also raises questions about duplicity and control. Its romantic emphasis is therefore balanced by meaningful family values but not by a fully biblical understanding of providence, truth, and human limitation.
The film’s central longing is to make the most of love and family before time passes. Scripture offers this prayer: “So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90:12).
The Content Guide
The specifics — spoilers included by nature — so you can judge for your own family.
Content Summary
Strong Romantic worldview mitigated by a strong pro-family and pro-child message, but the plot device involves some pagan magical thinking; 27 obscenities and profanities; shocking car crash that results in the main character’s alcoholic sister endangered in the hospital, but the shock comes from the crash of the car rather than graphic shots of her injuries; implied fornication humorously portrayed as the man keeps re-starting time in order to be a better seducer, plus brief crude dialogue; no nudity but woman’s bra and panties are shown; social drinking and the protagonist’s sister is an alcoholic who nearly dies after a DUI car accident, which admirably leads her to get sober; no smoking or drugs; and, duplicity and man reconstructs time and events to his advantage.
Talk About It
Questions for the drive home, the dinner table, or the youth group.
Tim wants to use his time to improve the lives of people he loves. How can your family spend its time more intentionally with one another?
Ephesians 5:15–16 · Psalm 90:12The film celebrates marriage, children, and family life. What makes these gifts worth cherishing, even when they bring change and difficulty?
Psalm 127:3–5 · Proverbs 17:6Tim changes events to get the results he wants. What is the difference between using wisdom and trying to control what belongs to God?
Proverbs 3:5–6 · James 4:13–15The film includes an alcoholic character who becomes sober after a DUI accident. How should truth, repentance, and help shape a response to destructive choices?
Proverbs 28:13 · Galatians 6:1–2The Final Word
ABOUT TIME is funny, touching, and warmly committed to family, children, marriage, and treasured moments with loved ones. Its unnecessary strong language, brief lewd content, and magical thinking make it unsuitable for children and young teens. For older teenagers and adults who can handle those concerns, the answer is WORTH THE TRIP — ADULTS ONLY.
