Alice Lowe’s Timestalker is an inventive, genre-bending dark comedy that traverses time, love and existential questions with her signature sharp wit and emotional depth. Following her critically acclaimed debut feature Prevenge (2016), Lowe returns with a more ambitious and stylistically experimental project. In Timestalker, she once again demonstrates her unique voice, blending comedy with moments of poignancy to explore themes of obsessive love, the cyclical nature of human behavior and the pitfalls of romantic idealism.
The film centers on Agnes (played by Lowe), a lovelorn protagonist whose journey spans multiple centuries, as she continuously reincarnates in pursuit of an idealised yet elusive love. Beginning in medieval times, where Agnes is a downtrodden woman obsessed with a dashing but aloof priest, her quest for unrequited love unfolds across different eras, from Victorian England to 1980s pop culture. Each of her reincarnations leads to heartbreak, ultimately revealing a deeper commentary on the destructive nature of romantic obsession.
One of the standout aspects of Timestalker is its tonal balance. The film is both darkly funny and introspective, tackling the absurdity of doomed romance with a deadpan delivery while still offering a melancholic exploration of fate and desire. Lowe masterfully injects humor into situations that could otherwise be tragic, allowing the audience to reflect on the cyclical traps of love without ever losing the comedic edge. This blend of dark comedy and emotional gravitas is reminiscent of her work in Prevenge but reaches new creative heights here.
Visually, Timestalker is inventive, with Lowe and her production team using a relatively modest budget to maximum effect. The transitions between eras are clever, with each time period imbued with its own aesthetic style—from the dreamy, soft-focus medieval settings to the vibrant, synth-heavy 1980s sequences. The use of visual motifs, such as Agnes repeatedly pricking her finger to set off each new cycle of reincarnation, ties the narrative together, giving the film a fairytale-like quality, albeit one rooted in absurdity and irony.
Lowe’s performance as Agnes is both captivating and understated. She portrays the character’s desperation and unwavering belief in her romantic destiny with a kind of deadpan earnestness that elicits both sympathy and humor. Agnes’s journey, while absurd, is also deeply relatable, as it taps into universal themes of longing, rejection, and the inability to break free from toxic patterns. Supporting performances from Nick Frost and Jacob Anderson bring additional layers of comedic charm. Frost’s character, though flawed and violent, is imbued with empathy, while Anderson serves as a cryptic, Cheshire Cat-like figure, guiding Agnes through time while offering unheeded advice.
Narratively, Timestalker avoids simple resolutions. The film doesn’t offer easy answers to Agnes’s dilemma, nor does it settle into familiar romantic comedy tropes. Instead, it leaves viewers contemplating the cyclical nature of love, fate, and identity. As the title suggests, Agnes is more of a “stalker” of time and romance, unable to break free from her self-imposed destiny. This complexity adds emotional weight to the film, resonating long after the credits roll.
One of the film’s most striking qualities is its commentary on the passage of time and how human desires remain fundamentally unchanged. Lowe’s decision to root Agnes’s plight in multiple eras highlights the repetitive and often self-destructive nature of romantic idealism, drawing parallels to historical and cultural shifts in views on love, without sacrificing the comedic elements that make the film so engaging.
Timestalker is an impressive feat in both style and substance, further cementing Alice Lowe as a visionary filmmaker with a unique voice. The film’s blend of historical parody, romantic tragedy and biting humor makes it a standout in the realm of indie cinema. By exploring the futility of obsessive love across different time periods, Lowe not only delivers a smart and hilarious time-traveling comedy but also provides a poignant reflection on the human condition.
