Timecrimes

Even though I spent most of my energy trying to decode the excited Spanish erupting from the mouths of these time-manipulators, the plot still basically made sense, so I'm not sure why so many critics lauded the movie by insisting that it must be seen twice.

Using very few special effects or gotcha camerawork, Nacho Vigalondo nicely surprises by telling this nonlinear story in a distinctively linear and minimalist way. He also reduces the fantastically impossible physics of time travel and multiple existences to this very readable diagram:

Much appreciated, Nacho. But one question remains: why did Spanish scientists build their secret experimental lab down the street from residential housing? Seems to me that if I designed a machine to send people screaming into the past, I'd hide it somewhere underground or in orbit or anywhere but right next to the guy with binoculars and patio furniture.