Predestination (2014)
12-month trend
12-month trend
Monthly article views
2025-09 to 2026-08
A time-traveling agent on his final mission must track down a notorious terrorist while navigating a complex web of temporal paradoxes.
The story
In 1975, a scarred time-traveling agent is tasked with his final mission: capturing the 'Fizzle Bomber,' a terrorist responsible for numerous bombings across history. To do so, he goes undercover as a bartender in 1970s New York City. There, he encounters a bitter columnist named John. As the agent attempts to navigate the complexities of the timeline and the identity of the bomber, he must decide how far he is willing to go to stop the cycle of violence before his next mission can be completed.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
A time-traveling agent, scarred from a failed mission in 1975, is sent to 1970s New York to find the 'Fizzle Bomber.' He meets John, a man whose life story reveals a complex past involving a woman named Jane who was part of a secret agency. The agent offers John a deal to hunt the bomber, leading them to 1963 where John discovers he is in a relationship with his own past self. Simultaneously, the agent manipulates the timeline to ensure John becomes the agent. In a final twist, the agent discovers the Fizzle Bomber is actually his own future self, a result of a predestined loop orchestrated by their superior, Robertson. The agent eventually realizes he is the older version of John, and the film concludes with him fulfilling the cycle of the paradox.
- First release year
- 2014
- Runtime (minutes)
- 97
- Production countries
- Australia
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Peter Spierig
- Writers
- Michael Spierig · writer; Peter Spierig · writer
- Cast and characters
- Ethan Hawke · not specified; Sarah Snook · not specified; Noah Taylor · not specified
- Genres
- science fiction; thriller
- Themes
- identity
- Tone and mood
- noir; crime
- Setting
- Various locations across history including 1945 Cleveland, 1963, 1970 New York City, 1975, 1985, and 1992.
- Premise and plot tags
- time travel; temporal paradox; mystery
- Content notes
- intersex; transgender
- Reception
- The film received generally favorable reviews, described as an "intriguing" and "entrancingly strange time-travel saga" that successfully engages the audience despite its complex narrative.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 84% · scale: percentage · review count: 111; Metacritic · score: 69 · scale: 100 · review count: 28
- Production trivia
- The film's narrative is based on a 1959 short story by Robert A. Heinlein.; The script was written before the Spierig brothers were officially announced as directors.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
Your lists
Loading your lists…