Did I totally miss the point?

Rating: Null/10 (18 July 2007)

I've read the user comments and I don't think we saw the same movie! I may be mistaken but I believe this story is not about time travel: it's a Sethian Gnostic allegory.
The entire story takes place in the present. I don't know why people say this takes play in three eras. I think that was either the marketing department or obfuscation.
The Conquistador story exists in the imagination of Rachel and Hugh (it is the story she is writing and is NOT literal. She is telling Hugh to write the story himself. To imbue his life with meaning and assume responsibility for being the author/hero of his own life.
The future story takes place on the Platonic, or ideal level. The intention of the protagonists are revealed at their purist level.
The movie focuses on the doctor as a Platonic "Third Man"- Not ideal (Anthropos, or the future dude in space), not material (Ialdaboath, or the guy trying to get a potion), but something in between.
Message: we are neither pure thought or pure matter. We are the "Son of Man" in this Gnostic cosmology.
It's a bit of a stretch, but not much given Ararofsky's Kabbalistic interests. It's JMHO. Any takers?