'One More Time' Review: Netflix's Swedish film does nothing extraordinary for time travel genre
Spoilers for ‘One More Time’
STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN: The concept of time travel has been used and reused far too many times at this point, and it might just be time to retire it. 'One More Time' is Netflix’s latest film about friendship, being a mess, and reliving the same day over and over again. You know, the typical high school stuff. 'One More Time' features a talented cast with Hedda Stiernstedt playing the lead role of Amelia. Of late, there have been several movies based on the same concept, most recently, ‘Still Time’, which is also available to stream on Netflix.
The origins of this concept can be dated back to ‘Groundhog Day’ and anything after that has been a recreation of one of the greatest movies of all time. While ‘One More Time’ is a mediocre and entertaining watch, it does nothing extraordinary for the time travel genre. This movie also serves as the directorial debut for Jonatan Etzler, and for that very reason, viewers and critics might cut him some slack!
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What happens in ‘One More Time’?
‘One More Time’ has been produced by Breakable Films and Netflix, and has tried its hardest to give the viewers something more unique with a recycled concept, but did it really succeed? The protagonist of the movie is Amelia, who is clearly going through a mid-life crisis on her 40th birthday and can’t stop wishing that she was 18 again. After trying to retrieve a time capsule buried by herself and her childhood best friend Fiona, Amelia meets with an accident.
Amelia wakes up to her parents singing her happy birthday, and it doesn’t take long for her to realize that something has gone terribly wrong. Now, here’s the kicker. While Amelia takes a few scenes to get over the shock, she soon submerges perfectly into being 18 again, living her best year all over again. She had a great best friend and a boyfriend, and we also see Fiona who is being cast aside by Amelia and everyone else.
Amelia and Fiona share the same birthday, and that’s the day that is repeated over and over again in ‘One More Time’. It takes our protagonist far too many attempts to realize what she was doing wrong, although, if you are watching the movie, you can probably guess it in the first five minutes of the movie. The answer to getting out of this time loop belonged in the time capsule and her friendship with Fiona. Again, predictable, ordinary, and mediocre at best.
Highlights of ‘One More Time’
While the criticism for ‘One More Time’ might seem a little harsh, this movie had a few good things about it that stood out, even though they simply didn’t stand out enough to make it unique compared to other movies of the same genre. ‘One More Time’ doesn’t just use the concept of ‘Groundhog Day’ but also mentions it religiously in this movie. In fact, Fiona and Amelia even watch ‘Groundhog Day’ to try and help Amelia understand why she is stuck in this loop and how she can get out of it. There are other time travel movies also mentioned in ‘One More Time’, so kudos to them for at least owning up to using the recycled concept.
Despite the lack of creativity at certain points, ‘One More Time’ was a colorful movie and easy on the eyes. The importance of friendship, and especially the end of the movie was enjoyable and sweet, and everyone loves a rekindled friendship moment. ‘One More Time’ ends with Amelia getting out of the loop and reuniting with Fiona, something she should have done a long time ago. Although this movie wasn’t our favorite, there is no denying that it was wholesome in its own way!
You can stream ‘One More Time’ on Netflix from April 21, 2023.