In the Hands of Time: Quiet Gem of a Time Travel Short

Continuing my end-of-year excursion into time-travel shorts on Amazon Prime, I today encountered In the Hands of Time, some 21 minutes from 2016.

This one's a quiet gem.  An inventor and his wife just find out they're expecting a baby.  He goes into his lab, fiddles with the device he's been working on, and is transported 40 years into the future.  He's outside of his home.   He knocks on the door, which his wife opens.  She's glad to see him - but she's now 70 years old.  Their challenge: how can they be together again at the same age?

Since this kind of time travel only works one way - instantly, 40 years into the future - their options are limited.  But they give it a shot.  And, of course, when you're in the hands of time, rather than your own volition, nothing works out as planned.  Or perhaps the message is that we're always in the hands of time, even without time travel, and that's why so many good plans go awry.

There are basically two kinds of time travel stories (in movies, TV shows, and novels and short stories).  In one type, like 12 Monkeys, the world itself is as stake.  In the other type, like The Butterfly Effect, one or more personal lives are at stake.  In the Hands of Time is a fine example of the latter.

Written and directed by Cheickna Kebe, well acted by everyone, especially Joan Q. Scott as the 70-year old wife.   Don't wait 70 or even 40 years to see this!

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