See You Yesterday

Since I can't go to a movie theater, I've been finding movies on streaming services to watch. One of them is See You Yesterday, an engaging sci-fi film on Netflix. It won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Screenplay.

Produced by Spike Lee, and written and directed by Stefon Bristol, See You Yesterday is a combination of Back To The Future and #blacklivesmatter. The film has importance for making the protagonists not only black, but extremely intelligent and interested in science.

CJ and Sebastian are best friends and partners for a science project. They have discovered a way to go back in time, although only for one day. The science is gobbledygook--lots of words like wormhole and protons--and they do it with backpacks. There is an amusing cameo by Michael J. Fox as their teacher, who tells CJ there are ethical conundrums with time travel. He also says, "Great Scott!"

When CJ's older brother is killed by an overzealous cop, she wants to set things right by going back in time. But as Marty McFly could tell her, it's not so easy. CJ, winningly played by Eden Duncan-Smith, is a marvelously rendered character, full of anger and impulsiveness. She keeps going, even after setbacks.

The film follows the rules of Back To The Future, in that if you die in the current time plane, your time-traveling self will disappear. CJ uses a funeral program to try to prove to her brother that the shit is real, but when events are altered the picture on the program changes.

See You Yesterday manages to be both fun and serious, as it addresses social issues even as it provides sci-fi entertainment. Lee is a mentor to Bristol, and I think Spike has discovered a major talent.