''See You Yesterday'' is a 2019 American

science fiction film Science fiction (or sci-fi) is a film genre that uses Speculative fiction, speculative, fictional science-based depictions of phenomena that are not fully accepted by mainstream science, such as Extraterrestrial life in fiction, extraterrestria ...

directed by

Stefon Bristol Stefon Bristol is an Americans, American film director and screenwriter. He has directed the science fiction films ''See You Yesterday'' (2019) and ''Breathe (2024 film), Breathe'' (2024). Career Bristol studied at New York University, New Yo ...

with a screenplay by Bristol and Fredrica Bailey based on Bristol's 2017 short film of the same name. It stars Eden Duncan-Smith, Danté Crichlow, Marsha Stephanie Blake, and Brian "Stro" Bradley. The film follows the story of an ambitious science prodigy, who uses her prowess and capabilities to create time machines to save her brother who has been killed by a racist police officer. As she tries to alter the events of the past, she will eventually face the perilous consequences of time travel. It was released on May 17, 2019, by

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

. The film received positive reviews and was nominated for two awards at the 35th Independent Spirit Awards, with Bristol and Bailey winning Best First Screenplay.

Plot

C.J. Walker is an ambitious science prodigy who is working to build a time machine alongside her best friend, Sebastian "Bash" Thomas. Their first attempt fails shortly before the last day of school. C.J. and Sebastian's last class is with Mr. Lockhart, their science teacher. As the teens are hoping to present their class project at the science expo on the week of July 5, she asks him to raise their project grade to impress potential school scouts, so they can earn university scholarships. He invites her to contemplate the ethical and philosophical ramifications of time travel. The pair's second attempt succeeds, sending them back 24 hours. C.J. seeks revenge on her ex-boyfriend Jared by pranking him. He chases her and is hit by a car, breaking his arm. Sebastian criticizes C.J. before they nearly see their past selves and return to the present. On July 4, C.J.'s older brother Calvin and his friend Dennis leave a party after Jared confronts him over C.J. As they are walking away, two other black men bump into them rushing down the street. Shortly after, a police car approaches and the officers are immediately suspicious of them. Mistaking them for the thieves they had been chasing, one of the officers kills Calvin. After Calvin's funeral, C.J. insists on going back a second time to save him. Sebastian expresses concern about the risk, but agrees to join her. They plan to reroute Calvin and Dennis before the shooting, but Jared spots and chases them for breaking his arm. The detour causes them to arrive too late to save Calvin. They try a third time, enlisting their classmate Eduardo's help and borrowing his highly resilient circuit boards. This time, C.J. tries to stop the convenience store robbery and avoid the police chase entirely by warning the shop owner. Past Sebastian sees present C.J. & is now in the middle of everything without knowing what's going on. C.J. successfully warns the owner and he pulls a gun on the robbers. They pull one back on him and past Sebastian winds up being shot and killed. As C.J. follows him out of the shop, present day Sebastian catches sight of himself dying on the sidewalk and disappears as the past Sebastian dies. C.J. goes back a fourth time to save both Sebastian and Calvin. They reach Calvin and Dennis in time, but she struggles to convince them of the situation. The officer who previously killed Calvin drives up to them, and Calvin says that he had nothing to do with the robbery. The officer subdues all four of them, and when Calvin realizes the others could get killed, he sacrifices himself as C.J. and Sebastian escape. Back in the present, Sebastian confronts C.J. and demands to know how many times she has gone back. She admits that the previous attempt was the fourth time and that he had died on the third. He forbids her to try again, but she travels a fifth time. Back in time and alone, C.J. breaks into a run.

Cast

Production

The film was shot in

Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

and

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

in 2018.

Release

It was released on May 17, 2019 on Netflix streaming.

Reception

The film has received favorable reviews from critics. On the

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

website,

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, the film holds an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average of . The website's critics consensus reads, "''See You Yesterday'' marries a novel sci-fi premise with urgent social relevance and forges something excitedly new from the union—providing an impressive showcase for star Eden Duncan-Smith and debut writer-director Stefon Bristol."

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 74 out of 100 based on nine critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Brian Tallerico of the

RogerEbert.com ''RogerEbert.com'' is an American film review website that archives reviews written by film critic Roger Ebert for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' and also shares other critics' reviews and essays. The website, underwritten by the ''Chicago Sun-Times ...

gave the film 3 out of 4 stars, reflecting on the film: "Bristol he directormakes a number of smart decisions, including keeping it close to 80 minutes and bringing Flatbush to cinematic life", but as the film "becomes more cluttered with time travel loops, it becomes less interesting". In a 2020 interview with ''

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher based in Washington, D.C. It features articles on politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 185 ...

'', former football player turned children's author

Martellus Bennett Martellus Demond Bennett (born March 10, 1987) is an American former professional American football, football player who was a tight end for 10 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Texas A&M Aggies f ...

criticized the plot of the movie, lamenting that the movie could have been "the black version of

Back to the Future ''Back to the Future'' is a 1985 American science fiction film directed by Robert Zemeckis and written by Zemeckis and Bob Gale. It stars Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover, and Thomas F. Wilson. Set in 1985 ...

" but took a violent turn instead (i.e. the cop shooting). According to him, "such narratives only reinforce the old dead-or-in-jail idea" as well as the notion that "Black trauma has become the de facto Black culture."

Music

The soundtrack is mainly composed of

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...

and soca music: *

Tenor Saw Clive Bright (2 December 1966 – 13 August 1988), better known as Tenor Saw, was a Jamaican dancehall singjay in the 1980s, considered one of the most influential singers of the early digital reggae era. His best-known song was the 1985 hit "R ...

: "Ring the Alarm" * Olatunji Yearwood: "Oh Yay!" * Buddy feat.

Ty Dolla Sign Tyrone William Griffin Jr. (born April 13, 1982), known professionally as Ty Dolla Sign (stylized as Ty Dolla $ign or Ty$), is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, and record producer. Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, Griffin gai ...

: "Hey Up There" * New Babylon: "Reggae Revolution! *

Dawn Penn Dawn Penn (born 11 January 1952) is a Jamaican reggae singer. She first had a short career during the rocksteady era from 1967 to 1969, but she is most known for her single " You Don't Love Me (No, No, No)", which became a worldwide hit in 1994. ...

: " You Don't Love Me (No, No, No)"

References

External links

* * {{Spike Lee Netflix original films 2019 films 2010s science fiction adventure films 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks films American science fiction adventure films Fictional portrayals of the New York City Police Department Films about the New York City Police Department Films about miscarriage of justice Films about racism in the United States 2010s films about time travel Films scored by Michael Abels Films shot in New York City Films set in 2019 Films set in Brooklyn Films set in the Bronx Teen adventure films 2019 science fiction films Time loop films 2019 directorial debut films Features based on short films 2010s English-language films 2010s American films Films directed by Stefon Bristol English-language science fiction adventure films