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Timestalker film image; man leading woman by her hand, both dressed in 19th century costume

Timestalker

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Seemingly pathologically incapable of remembering the past, Agnes is condemned to repeat it time and time and time and time again in this outlandish romantic comedy from writer-director-star Alice Lowe. Agnes’s downward spiral kicks off in 17th century Scotland when she falls for the disinterested Alex (Aneurin Barnard) at a public execution, only to meet an untimely demise herself. Reincarnated every century or so, she’s masochistically drawn to that era’s equally apathetic Alex and destined to perish in her attempts to woo him.

Timestalker is both a giddy genre confection and a heartfelt tale of hard-won empowerment achieved over the course of several lifetimes. Inspired by old Hollywood’s grand romantic epics and lovingly incorporating elements of costume dramas, speculative fantasies, swashbuckling adventures, and 80s music videos, Lowe has crafted a wild technicolour romp through time that pays tribute to the ritualistic humiliation that’s often part and parcel of romantic pursuits.

 

Supported by

Media Partner

Director
Cast

Alice Lowe, Jacob Anderson, Aneurin Barnard, Tanya Reynolds and Nick Frost

Credits
Country of Origin

UK

Year

2024

Language

English

Film Contact
18+

At International Village

19+

At The Rio

89 min
Comedy Horror & Thriller Romance Women Directors
Western Edge Pictures

Book Tickets

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Credits & Director

Executive Producer

Ty Francis, Franki Goodwin, Mike Rattenbury, Vaughan Sivell, Natan Stoessel, Marie-Gabrielle Stewart, Peter Watson, Natascha Wharton, Bizzy Day, Kiah Simpson, Laura Brook, Charlotte Colbert, Philip Colbert, Phil Hunt, Compton Ross

Producer

Vaughan Sivell, Mark Hopkins, Tom Wood, Natan Stoessel

Screenwriter

Alice Lowe

Cinematography

Ryan Eddleston

Editor

Chris Dickens, Mátyás Fekete

Production Design

Felicity Hickson

Original Music

TOYDRUM

Alice Lowe headshot; Timestalker director

Alice Lowe

Alice Lowe made her screenwriting debut with Sightseers (2012), directed by Ben Wheatley, in which she also starred. Prevenge (2016) was Lowe’s directorial feature debut, which she wrote, starred in, and directed whilst eight months pregnant. The film opened the Venice Critics’ Week and screened at Toronto, LFF, Sitges, Rotterdam, SXSW, and AFI, before being released in the UK and the US to critical and audience acclaim. Timestalker (2024) is her sophomore directorial feature.

Filmography: Prevenge (2016)

 

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