15 Greatest Hard Science Fiction Movies Of All Time
5. Primer
If Spike Jonze's Her offered an insight into the effects of technology on the human libido, Primer takes an altogether different approach to the science of the mind, offering a head-scratching cerebral view of time travel through the lens of cold, hard mathematics.
Shane Carruth's ultra low budget film is the movie equivalent of a one man band: Carruth wrote, directed, produced, starred in, composed the music and edited the film, proving that filmmaking doesn't have to be a huge feat requiring hundreds of cast and crew members in order to be effective.
Primer is a pared down chamber piece focusing on two scientists working out of a garage who accidentally discover a time loop, devoid of fancy special effects and not afraid to take the science of the premise with complete sincerity and assume a high level of intelligence on the part of the audience.
Watching Primer and it's clear that such a film would never be made without the total control of someone like Carruth, who refused to dumb down the heavy mathematical concepts, building on intricate concepts of time as established by physicist Richard Feyman. This is definitely one of those science fiction films which requires a well-secured thinking cap.