Shawn Levy's time-travel family adventure � a young girl accidentally activates a dormant time device and must navigate the past with her sardonic future self � lands as one of Netflix's most purely enjoyable original films.
Family Time Travel, Done Right
Time travel movies live and die on their emotional logic, and Back to the Past gets this exactly right. The central relationship between young Ellie (Millie Bobby Brown) and her future adult self (Ryan Reynolds) works because Levy understands that the best time travel films aren't really about paradoxes � they're about the relationship between who you are and who you're becoming. Reynolds's Adam is horrified by some of young Ellie's choices; adult Adam also knows things about what's coming that he can't change but can gently prepare her for. Mark Ruffalo as their father brings quiet gravitas that pays off in the film's final act.
"A crowd-pleaser with genuine heart. Reynolds and Brown are an inspired pairing � Levy wrings real emotion from the time-travel premise."
� IndieWireThe Verdict
One of Netflix's finest original films � sweet, funny, genuinely moving, with a third-act payoff that earns its tears. Perfect family viewing. 96% RT for a reason.
Shawn Levy's time-travel family adventure � a young girl accidentally activates a dormant time device and must navigate the past with her sardonic future self � lands as one of Netflix's most purely enjoyable original films.