By Ed Fortune
Breaking Infinity is a low-budget, British sci-fi movie that uses time travel to make what’s essentially a very simple story rather fun, stretching its very thin budget to the limit (as well as, alas, the audience’s patience.)
The story follows Liam (Neil Bishop), a scientist who is pretty sure he’s figured out how to make time travel work. Unfortunately, due to a seemingly inevitable accident, Liam bounces around his timeline, trying to figure out what is happening. Can he stop the accident? Does his invention break the world? And if so, how?
Low-budget sci-fi can be tricky to pull off, and Breaking Infinity almost gets there. Modern science fiction that doesn’t have a decent handle on its effects needs a strong conceit backed by powerful performances in order to be interesting. Sensibly this movie focuses on character drama, keeping the various plot twists pretty simple and the explosions few and far between. But it still fails to engage the audience.
Most of the action is between Liam and his doctor, Emma (Zoe Cunningham), who is sceptical of Liam’s discovery. Unfortunately, this tale keeps on a fairly safe and predictable path. Unfortunately, the plot does a bit of disservice to the character of Zoe, treating her more like an obstacle and an object than a person.
Breaking Infinity feels like an extended short, the sort of little tale you find at a good film festival or as part of a charming series of YouTube videos. At times, it comes close to doing something interesting and then plays it safe. This is a real shame because the acting and premise are solid; it just doesn’t come together well enough to be memorable. We wanted to like this movie, and it failed to deliver.
