In the future, Time is a currency

Rating: 7/10 (12 November 2011)

I guess the thing that put me off this movie initially was Justin Timberlake. I tend to balk at movies that star the latest 'hot bod' that generally does not show much in the way of acting skills (which is unlike Brad Pitt, who not only is one of those 'hot bods' but also knows how to act). Anyway, since there wasn't much else on at the cinema I decided that I would actually give this film ago, particularly since it appeared to fall into one of the 'Philip K Dick' categories of films. Turns out that it is not really based on anything (though there is talk of a law suit due to the theft of an idea from an earlier book).
I mention the 'Philip K Dick' category in that it is one of those science fiction films where there has been some major breakthrough which has changed the world, usually for the worst, however as mentioned, it is not directly based on any book, but seems somewhat similar to what one would expect from Dick.
In the future there has been a breakthrough in that nobody ages past the age of 25 however the catch is that after 25 people can only live for a year and then they die. They are born with a clock, and once you hit 25 the clock starts counting down until it hits 0 and then you die. Between those two times, the countdown and death, you can add to and subject from that clock as much as you like, as long as it does not hit 0 because once that happens it is game over. Thus time has become a currency and the world is divided into time zones, where the poor are separated by impassible barriers and the world has developed a much more rigid class structure. The lucky ones, the rich, can live forever while the poor go from day to day hoping that they can keep enough time to be able to make it to the next day.
This is scary this concept because granted money in our day is a bit like this, where the rich live without a care in the world while the poor struggle from day to day. Money is about control. When one holds the money and can hand it out as they see fit then there is control. We need money to survive, and without money we will eventually die (unless of course we turn to crime to support ourselves). So much more in this world where money isn't external but internal. When we run out of money we die, and right from when the clock begins to count down our time is slowly taken away from us. Will says that when his clock began to countdown he had pretty much spent his year in a month, whereas his rich friend was given 10 years as a birthday gift.
It is two different worlds, and people are not meant to cross. While the poor are struggling to keep themselves alive there is no way that they can rise up against the rich. The rich will take their time from them, and horde it among themselves while the poor are more concerned about getting that extra-minute, that extra day, so that they can have more time on the earth. However, they have to keep on spending it, so it is running about, living each day as it comes, as inflation (which is entirely artificial) slowly squeezes them ever more.
This reminds me of the Upton Sinclair's The Jungle where he talks about the squeeze. The immigrant comes to the US and gets himself a job, and is even paid reasonably well, however despite having the money, it is slowly squeezed out of him and his family keeping them poor and in the ghettos. It is interesting here that there are tolls at the exits from the various districts, and it costs time to get through. Obviously if the most you ever have on you is a month, you will never be able to afford the toll to escape. At least with money you can still survive despite not having any. Here when you run out that is it, you are dead.
Like in our world, this society is run on a delicate economic balance. As long as they keep needing time they must work and they cannot fight. However in between they drink their sorrows away (but must always be careful not to drink too much). Having too much time in the ghettos is almost as bad as having too little because you become the target of thugs and bullies, or moreso, you simply did not know how to use the time and you end up drinking yourself to death. Then you see the time banks, where you can take out loans. This reflects heavily on the current state of affairs where people need money to live, and go into hock to get that money, and as the interest on the loan expands the more of a slave you become to the system. They have the money, and they will give you the money, but if you take it then you are no longer your own person, but a slave to the one who has lent to you.