A mystery with no real mystery, a thriller with no real thrills. About all Time Now has going for it is vibes. Filmed in a perpetually overcast and often derelict Detroit, it's appropriately gloomy, but that's about it.
Eleanor Lambert (daughter of Diane Lane) stars as Jenny, a newly single mom who returns to her hometown for the funeral of her twin brother Gonzo (Sebastian Beacon). Digging around in his apartment, she finds a photo of him cuddling up with a woman and an address. This leads her to a speakeasy, and theoretically, a more mysterious part of the town she left years ago. But the acting and the script aren't good enough to keep us compelled, especially since "the big secret" doesn't exactly change anything.
What does change is the film's final act pushes it from deathly dull to woefully misguided. Spending more time in Gonzo's world, Jenny meets Kash (Xxavier Polk), a rapper on the verge of his big break. He was close with her brother and has a tentative romance with her. They both seem to want it, but keep their guard up at all times. But like seemingly everything else in this town, their relationship is doomed. If they had chemistry, or if the film ended differently, there might have been something there. But Kash becomes the vessel for all of Jenny's anger, which is not a good look, given the racial dynamics involved.
Spencer King certainly has potential as a director, but he's not there yet as a writer. A flashback to the night of Gonzo's death seems to momentarily offer a twist on what Jenny (and the audience) have figured out. But then it chickens out, playing everything conventionally. It all culminates in an ugly finale that does nothing but finally put us off our protagonist for good. If you have time now, don't waste it on this film.
