Mini Film Review – Safety Not Guaranteed

Yesterday I watched Safety Not Guaranteed; and it was really nice! Directed by Colin Trevorrow, and starring Aubrey Plaza, Mark Duplass, Karan Soni, and Jake Johnson, and based on a classified joke in an edition of Backwoods Home Magazine from 1997; Safety Not Guaranteed is a science fiction comedy, about a magazine intern, who travels with a couple of colleagues to a seaside community, to interview someone who claims they have built a working time machine! I can’t remember the last time I could honestly call a film sweet, because this is undoubtedly a sweet film. It features several laughs all the way through, but at the same time highlights the growing relationship between a dillusioned magazine intern, and someone everyone else thinks is crazy. This growing relationship anchors the film really well, as you feel like you’re watching a real-life romance blossom in real time. Yes there are a couple of other sub-plots to break away from a constant barrage of romance, plus there’s also all the really weird things that Plaza’s character gets dragged into by Duplass’s. But then, when it all seems like it’s reaching a great moment to climax the film on a pleasant note, comes a dramatic twist. It’s one that shakes the entire world, as it suggests something far more sinister at play, like it’s all going to come crashing down in an explosive and negative conclusion. Almost like the kind of twist you’ll find in a Bong Joon Ho film. But then the film finds a way to turn it back around again for the grand finale. Safety Not Guaranteed is a really good, really nice, and really sweet film, with an interesting story, played out by a terrific cast!