In the Blink of an Eye review: Hulu's sci-fi epic should have been a Pixar movie

Disney dumped its new sci-fi epic on Hulu, and it's obvious why

Unceremoniously dumped on Hulu, In the Blink of an Eye contains three stories told in parallel across separate timelines that attempt to capture the entirety of human existence. In the prehistoric past, a Neanderthal family struggles to survive in an unforgiving world. In our present, an anthropologist (Rashida Jones) studies the preserved skeleton of one of those Neanderthals, while also reluctantly falling in love with a mathematician (Daveed Diggs). And in the distant future, an astronaut (Kate McKinnon) and her AI companion (Rhona Rees) ride a ship deep into space on a mission to save humanity.

Stanton slowly reveals the many ways these three stories overlap both narratively and emotionally. There are specific plot connections that could be generously described as twists, along with more thematic ones that anchor the film. For example, at about the halfway point, a significant character dies in all three timelines, and Stanton cuts between them to emphasize our shared humanity across millennia. And at least once, Jones’ dialogue becomes narration for the other stories to further hammer home the concept: They’re all experiencing the same emotions! OK, I get it, Andrew, but if you’re trying to make a broader point here, I’m not seeing it.

The overall experience feels a bit like watching Cloud Atlas, an equally muddled experiment in parallel storytelling that at least takes some bigger swings. But where Lana and Lilly Wachowski and their directorial partner Tom Tykwer used their Hollywood cred to assemble an A-list cast and big Hollywood financing, Stanton tries to communicate a similar message about our shared humanity across time and space without the benefit of either.

The biggest thing holding In the Blink of an Eye back is its budget, which isn’t currently listed anywhere online, but is clearly modest for sci-fi at best. (The film debuted at Sundance, marking it as independent despite its Disney connections.) The film’s finances hamper the prehistoric scenes: the scenic backdrop, filmed in Vancouver, is stunning, but the actual Neanderthals look like amateur cosplay. The budget limits also reins in the movie’s sci-fi elements. Still, that dynamic forces Stanton to rely on McKinnon’s performance, which pays off thanks to a mix of dry humor and surprising emotional depth, even though her scene partner is basically Alexa with better AI.

The central plotline suffers the least from a small budget, since it’s the most grounded in our own modern world and requires the least amount of work to feel real. Unfortunately, it’s also the least interesting. Screenwriter Colby Day assembles a painfully predictable love story that seemingly only exists to mirror what’s happening in the past and future. Jones and Diggs do their best with the material, and achieve some actual chemistry and comedy along the way, but it’s not enough to make their scenes remotely watchable. Instead of good storytelling, Stanton leans on the kind of saccharine sentimentality that works better with doe-eyed Pixar characters. When the narrative started to speed up in the movie’s final act, moving rapidly through decades of the modern characters’ lives, I felt a sense of relief to be skipping through their story.

Each piece of In the Blink of an Eye feels uniquely flawed, but Stanton and Colby’s greatest sin is failing to bring them together in a clever way. I kept waiting for a twist, a time-loop, a surprise, anything to suggest that the trite movie I tuned into might evolve into a more original idea. Instead, the pieces slowly fit together into something smooth, polished, and boring. Without the visual crutch of Pixar’s wonderful animation, Stanton fails to conjure much of anything. It’s a shame to see such a great filmmaker stumble yet again in live-action. Thankfully, he’ll have a chance to redeem himself later this year: He also directed Toy Story 5, coming to theaters this summer.

In the Blink of an Eye is now streaming on Hulu.