So I saw this movie on HBO Max and thought it would be perfect to watch on 2/22/22. And honestly, it was kind of underwhelming. The film follows Dylan, who has something bad happen to him every day at precisely 2:22 p.m. As the film goes on, it becomes clear that these events are somehow tied into a larger event that happened at 2:22 in either the past or the future or maybe even both ;). Overall it wasn't a terrible film, but it was nothing great either. At times I was kind of bored, and I never really cared about the characters. It wasn't the worst movie in the world, though, and there was nothing terrible about it. Just nothing great either. But I'm glad I watched it on 2/22/22. Not sure if I would recommend it, though.

The star of this film are the screenwriters; Nathan and Stein, who take an incomplete idea and run with it. Unfortunately, when you rush, you sometimes make mistakes. This is one of those times. It is a real shame, and I am sure both writers will have a productive future. But this effort falls short due to the inability of the writers to clearly convey what they are writing about. The character of the air traffic controller is well-developed, but not anyone else. To get an effective chemistry for the audience, one must develop the TWO characters at the same time; not just one and then introduce another one much later. That device does not work, and helps to eventually ruin any connection the audience might have with the later character. This flaw is not the only reason the film is not successful. The premise of time travel (and this is a time travel film in the sense that Groundhog Day was a time travel film) is a difficult premise to work around as a film. Groundhog Day was successful because it had a great actor, Murray, and great comedy situations. This film has no sense of humor, nor does it have any sense of impending repeating events. The audience is intrigued, but then loses interest when there are no compelling examples before the final event of the phenomenon. A good try, but no cigar.

Todd Stein's fascinating story has been transcribed into a screen by the author and Nathan Parker and Paul Currie capably directs this mind-bending tale about time and intransigence.

2:22 (not to be mistaken for the 2008 heist film by the same name) centers on Dylan (Michiel Huisman) an air traffic controller who is given a jolt when he narrowly escapes being responsible for a mid air collision between two passenger planes. Caused by a mysterious blinding light that happened at 2:22 PM, these strange occurrences continue and lead Dylan to meet Sarah (Teresa Palmer), with whom he feels inexplicably linked: Dylan had prepared to be a pilot like his father but altered his career out of a fear of flying, and Sarah had prepared to be a dancer but fell victim to a broken knee, altering her decision to stay in the arts but as an art gallerist Together the two discover uncanny similarities with their current predicament and a double murder committed a generation ago. With a grim fate looming (a possible reenactment of a 30 year old murder scene in Grand Central Station), Dylan must solve the mystery of 2:22 to preserve a love whose second chance has finally come.

The use of an art exhibition at Sarah's art gallery - art by her ex-lover Jonas (Sam Reid) – is worth the price of admission. Staggeringly unique and beautifully presented, the art plays a central role in the mystery, providing clues to the audience as it opens clues to Dylan's search for the meaning of the 2:22 incidents. From there the film grows philosophically and offers layers of sophisticated concepts about time and the galaxies.

Excellent acting and direction and art direction (Richard Hobbs) and cinematography (David Eggby) and musical score (Lisa Gerard and James Orr) make this a very creative and compelling thriller.