Quartile rating: 7/10 · 2 ratings
Three magazine employees head out on an assignment to interview a guy who placed a classified ad seeking a companion for time travel.
Safety Not Guaranteed is a quietly charming indie that earns its Novelty score through a genuinely singular premise — a classified ad seeking a time-travel companion — executed with mumblecore sincerity and emotional restraint rather than sci-fi spectacle. The plot is engaging and warmly human, though it leans on familiar indie relationship beats and the subplot involving the magazine writer's former flame is somewhat underdeveloped. Acting is solid across the board, with Aubrey Plaza delivering her signature deadpan vulnerability and Mark Duplass bringing eccentric authenticity, but neither performance is transformative. Cinematography is functional and unassuming — competent but unremarkable, fitting the low-budget indie aesthetic without distinction. The ending is emotionally satisfying and earns its moment of magic, though it resolves somewhat abruptly and leaves narrative threads dangling. Overall a genuinely distinctive small film that punches above its weight in originality.