PREDESTINATION (2014) Explained 

Imagine telling someone that a 1.5 hour film validly sets up a singular character to be the 2 main protagonists, the two main antagonists, their own parents and their own child. This film is insane

Ethan Hawke, in a semi-recent interview, referred to Predestination as his most underrated movie. After watching your fine recap, I tend to agree!

hes his own mother, father, daughter, and mortal enemy. love it

I absolutely love this movie. The story is amazing and the acting is top notch as well. The plot is a complete mind fuck, but it plays out brilliantly. Another excellent video, Sir.

The moment the film refused to show Jane's lover's face, the song "I am my own grandpa" popped into my head and it was rewarding to see it pop up soon after.

Ngl the title of this movie makes it seem like a Final Destination prequel

Note: This is a "bootstrap paradox" (named after another Heinlein story) which is not actually a time paradox. It's an _ontological_ paradox, in that it doesn't have a proper beginning, but recursive time-loops like this one are in fact consistent with causality.

Sarah Snook is brilliant in this. She's totally convincing as both Jack and Jane.

MAN, I remember the first time I saw this movie on some random cable channel long ago and I cannot forget how the final act just blew my mind-- Ethan Hawke's performance was so good too! the last line of the movie was so memorable as well! this movie truly is one of the best things that has ever happened to me.

The big thing I noticed is that old Jack had the same exact glasses that Jane had her whole life. So those are most likely the same glasses throughout the whole movie.

I read the short story this movie was based on years ago. It’s call “All you zombies”, and I absolutely loved it. Plus this movie did a good job adapting the original work

I want to say I watched this when it came out on a cable channel and I fell in love with its story. I’m also sure it’s here in the comment section somewhere, but it’s based on the story “All You Zombies”, by Robert Heinlein. Also, if you love wacky stories, give “The Veldt” a whirl.

I totally knew that jack was going to be the bomber since Chris mentioned this movie in killing of a sacred deer but I was still amazed that John was Jane’s father

I like how adamant Jane wanted her baby to avoid the orphanage only for her to still go to the orphanage

Very similar to Looper, but very well done. I did think at the beginning though, "If it turns out Ethan Hawke's character is also the bomber, i swear to god..." soooo yeah.

Hats off to this dude for explaining this mind f*ck of a movie

It's probably just a fun coincidence but I like to think that the sign right behind old Jack at 31:00 that says "Please don't overload washers ..." refers to how the agency treats its agents. Jack, one of its "washers", was so overloaded that eventually he became everything that the agency tries to prevent, a product of their own failure. It's most likely not that but the way that they decided to put this bright, glowing yellow sign behind Old Jack the first time we see him is really intriguing from a framing standpoint.

One of those films that you either LOVE IT or HATE IT, no in between, and i fucking LOVED IT

Highly recommend everyone actually watch this movie BEFORE watching this recap. It's on my all-time most underrated list.

Man what a mind fuck. I predicted that Jane was the man she originally fell in love with. I expected jack to be the bomber. I did not expect jack to be John who was Jane. Fuck that’s wild. What a sick movie

I imagine John’s response to jack’s “would you killhim?” To be “no, I still love him, I’ve been looking for him”

Fun fact, the creative team behind this movie (who did a hell of a job adapting and expanding upon the source material) also were the same team that did the sci-fi/vampire movie Daybreakers, which is one of my favorite vampire movies, also starting Ethan Hawke.

This was the very last movie that my best friend suggested I watched before he died.. it was just as good as he said it was.

Always enjoy these explanations , I feel like I've seen the movie after watching one of these . Well done and well explored !!! Keep em coming !!!

The whole "I'm my own grandpa" has been flipped on it's head in the best way for this crazy movie. Absolutely love it

I love this movie. I love the mystery behind the time travelling device. When I first watched it, it was a huge shock to me. I never would have guessed half of the things revealed. Definitely one of those "watch it again now that I know" kinda movies.

I always imagined that Robertson would turn out to be Jane/John/jack as well. I love this movie.

This movie isn't underrated, it was severely under marketed. It's universally loved by everyone who has seen it.

This movie still blows my mind. Ethan Hawke is so underrated.

This film is by far the best thought out most realistic depiction of time travel in cinema. There's normally hundreds of glaring plot holes and logic errors in these films, this one does a fantastic job a missing most of them.

I remember this movie from a few years ago, the twists always came outta nowhere and blew my mind.

Found this movie 7 years ago, and even to this day I still tell people it's a must watch. The plot itself is just amazing, but throw in the twists... 🤯

The ending is perfectly crafted I've seen in a long time. That looping, paradoxical cycle. And some paradoxes have to flow evenly. Two of the same person cannot exist. One has to die. Then you have the Grandfather Paradox, and that's a whole different can of worms.

Goddamn, it's difficult for me to bring this movie up to ppl because I have a hard enough time trying to understand/remember everything. But you did a fucking fantastic job! Hopefully I'll remember it more but it's one I for sure want to recommend.

leonardo would have been a perfect actor to play Ethan Hawk role ... him n her have such a striking resemblance

This was a really cool movie. I was sure that they were the same person the moment jack and John first interacted, but the fact that Jack was Jane legitimately caught me by surprise, tho i immediately knew jack would come to be the one that abandoned Jane.

This one of my favorite movies. I'm surprised it took you this long to review it

After seeing a lot if time travel movies I almost didn't believe myself when expecting the ending. Even whilst being predictable I still love paradox films.

In addition to the predetermination paradox, the movie also tackles a bit of the Trolley Problem, a famous moral dilemma (aka the inspiration for the humorous fan wad "The Revenant Problem" if you play custom Doom maps). If you don't know what it is, the idea is simple: There's a train speeding down the tracks. Ahead of you there's a fork in the tracks. If the train continues on its current path, it will kill a greater number of bystanders who are in the train's path. You are unable to warn them in time. However, you can control the switch that would force the train down the other path. The problem is, this other path also has bystanders who would be hit and die, albeit a fewer number. So what do you do? Do you do nothing, and let the train kill more people--a statistically worse outcome? Or, do you make the choice to actively participate in the deaths of a fewer number of innocents--playing God, determining who lives and who dies, and letting their bodies hang on your conscience? The right thing to do should be to let fewer people die, but because of the psychological toll, many people in the hypothetical situation would rather do nothing. The movie briefly introduces this moral dilemma in the end. The seemingly mad, old John "Fizz Bomber" is convinced he's doing the right thing, because although he takes a repulsively high number of innocent lives, compared to the all the alternate timelines and the catastrophes that would happen if he didn't, he's actually saving more lives in the long run. To younger John, that reasoning doesn't justify mass murder today. But does it? This is an extension, on a much greater scale, of the same Trolley Problem. Perhaps John isn't quite so nuts from time travel exhaustion after all. Perhaps he had a valid moral position, and perhaps pondering this moral issue over the years leads him to the inevitable, logical conclusion that it is better to switch the tracks and kill a fewer number of innocents. Question is, does he actually witness those alternate realities firsthand, or does he take the newspaper clippings as good enough evidence? If the latter is true, then where did those paper clippings originally come from? Is it another question of the chicken or the egg? In the case of the former, that would pre-suppose he is capable of and in fact did break the time loop (by choosing not to be the bomber), but ultimately decides to be the bomber in the end. This would imply that *for a movie titled "Predestination," its seemingly helpless participants actually do have free will.*

You're a goat man. Lot of good recappers on here but you've consistently provided them for worthwhile movies. Appreciate you my man!

She never checked her face in the mirror yet she has perfect makeup and hairdo? She really is a genius 😂😂😂. And how on earth would you not know your new look is exactly the face of the first man you fell in love with, who broke your heart?

I have been recommending this movie to everyone ever since I watched it, it's an absolute masterpiece

I love when you do “non-terror” movies!

Could the whole organization be one big paradox? Mainly because without the main character then the whole organization wouldn't exist let alone be as big as it is.

A time traveling cop adventure. And we know how convoluted and complicated time travel can be, in movies that is.

Thank you so much foundflix you have brought us yet another masterpiece

this was the only movie ive watched so far that i genuinely needed to watch an explained video after, but i will gladly watch again for your voice and opinion foundflix

I bet the writer/director included Jane’s backstory about how she was a tomboy and liked to fight. As a way to throw off the viewer to think why she eventually became a man.

This was the last movie I watched with my 24yo daughter before she was murdered. This movie blew her MIND, it was so much fun to watch with her (i had already seen it). Even without that extra special fact, this will always be one of my favorites. Crazy. Super crazy.

Just rewatched this a few months ago, absolutely love it.

That’s amazing that such an amazing story came out of the 1940s

Watched this on scifi with my mom years ago & absolutely loved it! Really keeps it moving!

I was just thinking about this movie last night as I was falling asleep , which just kept me up . I've seen in numerous times but still think about just how good it really is .

When i saw this on my homepage i hate to take a few breaths, recalibrate my psyche, and then have a conversation with myself in a mirror on if i really want to go down this rabbit hole again

Come to think about it... Ethan Hawke has starred in some WEIRD movies, he's great

Imagine being your own mother, father, son, daughter, mentor, and greatest rival.

I've watched this movie so many times but whenever I see the beginning I'm always questioning if I actually have lol. The beginning bar scene is so much better when you know the twist.

This is one of my favorite movies. Super happy you finally did it. I watch it multiple times a year. Also JUST watched the black phone and was then talking about this movie. Went to RU-vid to watch the differences between book and film for the black phone and saw this in related. Weird coincidence.

The problem with the Chicken or The Egg idea is that the answer is The Egg. The egg would have come before the chicken it would have just been laid by something that was very nearly a chicken.

I still wonder how the cameraman leaps through time with him. The cameraman is the REAL protagonist.

I've started leaving this comment before watching the video - I love this movie for how wild it is. My first time watching it me and my friend at the time (soon to be wife!!) were having a great time trying to guess the twists only to be even more shocked every time at how to movie actually developed! It has such a sentimental place in my heart, I'm looking forward to seeing this video. After watching the video - This did not disappoint! Good to know the movie is just as wild as I remember

the real winner is robertson, he finally got a super agent outside the agency

❤️ Ethan Hawke and amazing talent actor!! 🎉👍😎 Thank you for breakdown of this movie!

My first experience watching this was unforgettable and I still haven't stopped recommending this to my friends.

It's crazy how "Jack" looks so much like Decaprio from titanic 🤯🤯

My dad and I watched this together awhile back and so I’m getting him to watch this with me because we were left very confused

watching this movie feels like a distant and vague memory, but this movie still holds a special place in my heart and brain because of the plot

This is the type of movie that would forever be engraved in my memory. What a classic

This movie took self love to the max

1:45 killing the man who ruined my life? That would be suicide. Yeah I’ll do it

This movie still blows my mind!!!!john was talking to himself like WHAT!!!!! Jean was talking to herself with the man in the park!!!! My god this movie is awesome!!!

"I knew where I came from, but where did all you zombies come from?"

I watched this a couple weeks ago and immediately checked if there was a FoundFlix video. I'm super excited to see you take on it!

Ethan hawke always seems to be in cool little movies recently, hope he keeps it up x

Sooo...he stops the bomber to become the bomber 😵‍💫🤯

l love this movie, and i love that you did one of your videos on this film is great. W channel

I watched this movie in 2018 and remember being awestruck at the “reveals”. It is still one of my favourite movies. The fact that someone thought this and made such a complex story out of it is mind blowing in itseld

*Gives a whole new meaning to "messing with yourself!!"*

About time this movie gets the GD respect it deserves. 👍🏻

21:26 “Gettin’ pretty nutty ‘round here” was on the poster for this movie I think.

This was a REALLY great movie to watch. I enjoyed it very much. Glad you're covering it, FF!

I LOVED this movie!! I'm glad I watched it before checking out your recap, thanks for the recommendation. This was a lot like that Futurama episode where Fry is his own grandpa, but in this one he is his own mother, father, grandpa, grandma, etc LOL

This movie ending left me speechless. Wild for sure. Definitely recommend watching it!

Iv seen this movie a couple times in the past and I never got all that from the movie thanks bro

Never saw this movie but now I'm gonna and the storyline behind it is amazing how did this not blow up

surprised this movie made it on here, didnt really see it as a horror when i first watched it. more sci-fi/action. but cool to see it here! i was surprised to see how well it explored complications of identity, gender, and touched on the involuntary mutilation of intersex people.

Good movie thanks for reviewing it. We need more time travel movies

Making good time travel movies is very hard apparently, and this one just knocks it out of the park. Very much worth the watch.

Me watching this movie for the first time: "Hooo that's cool! ... Wait... Wait what? ... What?! ... ... Wat."

I'm My Own Grampa is a real song, from a Tom Arnold movie. Interesting it's included in what isn't a comedy

I really enjoy Ethan Hawke's work. I saw this film last year and found it interesting. Good to refresh my memory watching this.

i wonder if the original novel inspired the futurama chapter were Fry becomes his own grandpa

Small detail but love the switching of pronouns in the narration with the transition in the story: she -> they -> he (it's respectful and easier to follow along, especially with a trickier transition story like this)

Main character took, “Go fuck yourself” to a whole nother level.

Omg, I’ve been waiting for sooooo long for you to cover this movie!! I’m so excited! Awesome, thanks so much, as usual, your videos are the best! 💜

this movie is the embodiment of that one spongebob joke "he is squidward, he is squidward, i am squidward, Are there any other squidward I should know about?"

Such an underrated gem love this one ! Thanks for doing this

I LOVE IT WHEN WEIRD MOVIES GET EXPLAAAAIIIIINNNEEEED WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Was kind of cool to see the very meticulous attention paid to the characters pronouns at any given time. Nice one FoundFlix

This movie made my brain leak out my ears. I loved it.