TiMER (2010 comedy) [1]

[5]While most science fiction uses action films to hide ways to make us think, TiMER [5] is a relationship comedy. Set in a future where a wearable device counts down the time until the wearer is destined to meet his or her soul mate, this soft science fiction film looks at what we lose when we give too much control to a technology.

In the film, Oona (played by Emma Caulfield from Buffy the Vampire Slayer) has a TiMER that doesn't register a number - meaning her soul mate has not yet had a TiMER installed. The film explores the myriad ways the service influences how users seek, wait, and find love. It's an interesting film that is a nice break from the explosion filled dystopias Hollywood tends to produce.

Why you should watch this film (some spoilers ahead)
As the age of the wearable approaches, TiMER [5] gives us a look at how technology can infiltrate our decision making. By offering relief from finding love, a situation that plagues most humans at different times in their lives, the stress of searching is relieved and replaced by the stress of waiting. As with many "answers" there are believers and doubters and social friction is the result.

Through this, the film explores two key issues. The first is what to do while waiting. If there is some time until you are destined to meet "The One", should you remain chaste and/or true to this future love or enjoy as many relationships as you like? The second is what happens when you feel the tug of your heart, but the system does not identify that person as your soul mate?

With plenty of comedy, TiMER makes it easy to gloss over the darker side of the TiMER technology and what it does to the users. My wife and I both enjoyed it and I can recommend the film to help consider how future advancements, and especially the companies with the patents, might attempt to sell us their "solutions" to problems that should remain a part of our human experience.

• The deep impact of technology on our lives.
• The human desire to solve problems and how it can lead us to despair.
• How self-fulfilling prophecy can limit our freedom.
• How an unknown can be so painful when we have already paid the price for the absolute.
• Ways a technology can rob us of a life of experiences by giving us answers too early.

The film is available on Netflix [6]. If you enjoyed this review and intend to buy this film, please consider buying through this link [5].