Timestalker is the saucy, grizzly anti-romance British cinema needs

Having spent much of her acting career in cult favourites such as TV comedy Garth Merenghi’s Dark Place and 2012 indie film Sightseers, Alice Lowe broke through as a director with her 2016 comedy slasher Prevenge. 

She follows up that success with her second directorial effort, high concept comedy Timestalker. She plays Agnes, a woman falling for the wrong man (Aneurin Barnard), dying, then falling for him all over again in another life. She repeats the cycle through several lives, spanning from 17th Century Scotland to an apocalyptic 22nd century. As her lives progress, she keeps trying to get things right. 

As with Lowe’s previous work, the tale is a sumptuous dark comedy with no shortage of grizzly death scenes. Agnes travels through each segment with a comedic grace, trying to ignore the issues in her life, and fixating on a destiny that, in reality, is more of an obsession. 

The absurdity extends outside out of the script, with the cast parading around in ludicrous wigs and 1980s Lycra. The tone can be scattershot in places, preferring a low-brow punchline over something more thoughtful, but each time-hop brings something new to Agnes’ journey. 

Lowe is a wonderfully flawed lead, swooning over her idealised notion of a man while ignoring the many, many red flags. She’s blessed with some wonderful scene partners, with Barnard making his object of affection seem comedically uninterested. 

Nick Frost makes a stomach-churning appearance as Agnes’ brutish husband George, while Game of Thrones alum Jacob Anderson is suave as a figure who describes himself as Agnes’ ‘shadow’. Offbeat and inventive, Timestalker furthers Lowe’s reputation as a filmmaker with a unique vision who brings something new to British cinema.