''I'll Follow You Down'' is a 2013 Canadian

techno-thriller A techno-thriller or technothriller is a hybrid genre drawing from science fiction, thrillers, spy fiction, action, and war novels. They include a disproportionate amount (relative to other genres) of technical details on their subject matter ( ...

written and directed by

Richie Mehta Richie Mehta is a Canadian film director and writer. His first feature film, '' Amal'', was released in 2008, and was nominated for Best Motion Picture and Best Director at the 29th Genie Awards. In 2013, Mehta released two films he wrote ...

. Outside the United States and Canada, the film was released as ''Continuum''.

Plot

In 2000, a professor from

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

goes to

Princeton, New Jersey Princeton is a municipality with a borough form of government in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton and Princeton Township, both of whi ...

, for a conference but does not return. Devastating his wife and young son Erol, he is eventually presumed dead. Twelve years later, Erol talks with his grandfather, who suggests that the father's disappearance might have been the result of a scientific experiment involving

time travel Time travel is the concept of movement between certain points in time, analogous to movement between different points in space by an object or a person, typically with the use of a hypothetical device known as a time machine. Time travel is a ...

. Erol is determined to find out the truth. Erol is a mathematical genius and solves the equations necessary to recreate the time travel machine his father had built to go back in time to 1946. As he's working with his grandfather on this machine and the math and physics of it, Erol's girlfriend, Grace, becomes pregnant and makes him doubt the necessity of this endeavor. However, when Grace has a miscarriage, and Erol's mother commits suicide as a result of the loss and confusion of never knowing why her husband never returned, Erol realizes that this timeline that he's living in is a direct result of his father leaving. None of this would have happened naturally had his father come home. This time line is a dead-end and has to be corrected. With renewed vigor, Erol finishes the time machine. He uses the time machine to go back to 1946 and finds his father who is looking for

Albert Einstein Albert Einstein ( ; ; 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theory ...

as he finished the work Einstein started. Erol reveals his identity and the chain of events which led him here to his father. He then reveals to him that, knowing his Dad's mind, he knew it wouldn't be that simple to convince him to come home. Erol tells him to go back home and give his family the life they deserve and to remember that he, Erol, is what he is because of his father's mistake. Then Erol shoots himself, dying instantly. This burns the message into his father's mind that he has to go back and prevent all of this from happening, which he does.

Cast

Gillian Anderson Gillian Leigh Anderson ( ; born August 9, 1968) is an American actress. Her credits include the roles of FBI Special Agent Dana Scully in the series ''The X-Files'', ill-fated socialite Lily Bart in Terence Davies's film '' The House of Mirt ...

as Marika *

Haley Joel Osment Haley Joel Osment (born April 10, 1988) is an American actor and voice actor. Beginning his career as a child actor, Osment's role in the comedy-drama film '' Forrest Gump'' (1994) won him a Young Artist Award. His breakthrough came with the ps ...

as Erol *

Rufus Sewell Rufus Frederik Sewell (; born 29 October 1967) is a British film and stage actor. In film, he has appeared in '' Carrington'' (1995), '' ''Hamlet' (1996), ''Dangerous Beauty'' (1998), '' Dark City'' (1998), '' A Knight's Tale ''(2001), '' Th ...

as Gabe *

Victor Garber Victor Joseph Garber (born March 16, 1949) is a Canadian-American actor and singer. Known for his work in film, television, and theatre, he has been nominated for three Gemini Awards, four Tony Awards, and six Primetime Emmy Awards. He has also ...

as Sal *

John Paul Ruttan John Paul Ruttan (born May 12, 2001) is a Canadian actor who is best known for ''RoboCop (2014 film), RoboCop'' and ''This Means War (film), This Means War''. In 2012 he was nominated for the Best Performance in a Voice-Over Role at the 33rd Youn ...

as Young Erol * Kiara Glasco as Young Gracie * Susanna Fournier as Grace

Reception

References

External links

* *
I'll Follow You Down – Summary, Synopsis and Review (by CultureCrypt)
2013 films Canadian thriller films English-language Canadian films Techno-thriller films Films shot in Ontario Films about time travel Films directed by Richie Mehta Films scored by Andrew Lockington Films set in 1946 Films set in 2000 Films set in 2012 2010s English-language films 2010s Canadian films {{2010s-Canada-film-stub