Another Time (2018) — AI Story Visualization

Plot Analysis Summary

A dissatisfied financial professional risks irreversible time travel to escape his unfulfilled life, only to enter an uncertain new reality.

Story Structure — 5 Plot Phases

Career Beneath The Stars

The film contrasts cosmic questions about time and life beyond Earth with Eric's successful but unfulfilling financial career. Ben offers him a lucrative new client portfolio.

Key Events

• Cosmic Science Broadcast — Television scientists discuss planets, the ionosphere, time, and possible life beyond Earth. Location: Television broadcast
• Eric's Financial Career — Eric works as a highly paid account manager. Characters: Eric Laziter Location: Financial workplace
• Ben Presents Opportunity — Ben tells Eric about Practor Financial's acquisition and a new client portfolio. Characters: Eric Laziter, Ben Location: Financial workplace
• Elderly Client Portfolio — Eric is offered first choice of mostly elderly investors as new clients. Characters: Eric Laziter, Ben Location: Financial workplace
• Questioning A Meaningful Life — A later conversation makes Eric question whether money and advancement create a meaningful life. Characters: Eric Laziter Location: Private conversation setting

The Life He Abandoned

Eric questions whether money and advancement create meaning and recalls his childhood dream of becoming an astronaut. These doubts lead him toward the mystery of Joseph Goyer.

Key Events

• Astronaut Dream Revealed — Eric admits that he once dreamed of becoming an astronaut. Characters: Eric Laziter Location: Private conversation setting
• A Greater Social Impact — Eric hears that his intelligence could make a greater impact on society. Characters: Eric Laziter Location: Private conversation setting
• Investigation Begins — Eric begins investigating the disappearance of physicist Joseph Goyer. Characters: Eric Laziter Location: Research setting
• Hawkins Explains The Experiment — Hawkins explains Joseph's plan to open two points in space-time. Characters: Eric Laziter, Professor Hawkins Location: Academic setting
• Laboratory Explosion — Joseph's unauthorized experiment causes an explosion that destroys the physics lab. Characters: Professor Hawkins, Dr. Joseph Goyer Location: Physics laboratory

Searching For Goyer

Eric learns about Joseph's destructive space-time experiment and follows a vague lead from Lynn. He eventually finds Joseph working alone with advanced calculations.

Key Events

• Joseph Is Dismissed — Joseph is dismissed after the failed experiment, although no one is injured. Characters: Dr. Joseph Goyer, Professor Hawkins Location: Physics laboratory
• Lynn Offers A Vague Lead — Lynn gives Eric an uncertain lead involving a relative's land in Colorado or Arizona. Characters: Eric Laziter, Lynn Goyer Location: Lynn Goyer's setting
• Eric Finds Joseph — Eric eventually locates Joseph, who has continued working in isolation. Characters: Eric Laziter, Dr. Joseph Goyer Location: Joseph's isolated laboratory
• Arrival Calculations Explained — Joseph explains how the equipment predicts where and when a traveler will arrive. Characters: Eric Laziter, Dr. Joseph Goyer Location: Joseph's isolated laboratory
• Cosmic Positioning Risk — Joseph warns that inaccurate calculations could strand a traveler in the vacuum of space. Characters: Eric Laziter, Dr. Joseph Goyer Location: Joseph's isolated laboratory

The Point Of No Return

Joseph explains the danger of miscalculating a time-travel arrival. Eric asks to change his life, accepts the irreversible risk, and enters the device.

Key Events

• Eric Requests Another Life — Eric reveals regret and asks for the chance to make different choices. Characters: Eric Laziter, Dr. Joseph Goyer Location: Joseph's isolated laboratory
• Irreversible Warning — Joseph agrees to help but warns Eric that time travel cannot be reversed. Characters: Eric Laziter, Dr. Joseph Goyer Location: Joseph's isolated laboratory
• Eric Enters The Device — Eric enters the device at a carefully selected moment intended to prevent the earlier disaster. Characters: Eric Laziter, Dr. Joseph Goyer Location: Joseph's isolated laboratory
• Joseph Sends Eric Back — Joseph activates the device and sends Eric through time toward a potentially better life. Characters: Eric Laziter, Dr. Joseph Goyer Location: Joseph's isolated laboratory

A Stranger In The Past

Eric arrives in the past, but a broken truck leaves him stranded. His meeting with Ally ends the film on a disturbing question about identity and altered destiny.

Key Events

• Truck Breaks Down — Eric emerges in the past, but his truck immediately breaks down. Characters: Eric Laziter Location: Roadside area
• Eric Meets Ally — Stranded near a roadside establishment, Eric meets Ally and already knows her name. Characters: Eric Laziter, Ally Location: Roadside establishment
• Unresolved New Life — Ally is unsettled by Eric's familiarity, and the film ends before his new life is resolved. Characters: Eric Laziter, Ally Location: Roadside establishment

Story Breakdown

• Cosmic Premise — The film introduces scientific questions about time, planets, and life beyond Earth.
  • Television Scientists — Scientists discuss the ionosphere, the nature of time, and possible extraterrestrial life.
  • Time As Possibility — The scientific opening establishes the conceptual background for the later experiment.
• Financial Success — Eric's profitable career offers security but gradually exposes his dissatisfaction.
  • Account Manager — Eric works as a highly paid account manager.
  • New Client Portfolio — Ben offers Eric first choice of clients from an acquired boutique operation.
• Existential Doubt — Eric begins questioning whether professional advancement represents a meaningful life.
  • Abandoned Astronaut Dream — Eric reveals that he once wanted to become an astronaut.
  • Greater Social Impact — Eric considers whether his intelligence could serve society more meaningfully.
• Goyer Investigation — Eric investigates the scientist whose experiment may provide a route to another life.
  • Destroyed Physics Lab — Joseph's unauthorized experiment causes an explosion and ends his public career.
  • Lynn's Vague Lead — Lynn points Eric toward a relative's land in Colorado or Arizona.
• Time Travel Design — Joseph's isolated work reveals the precision and danger required for temporal travel.
  • Orbital Calculations — The equipment accounts for Earth's rotation, orbit, and galactic movement.
  • Vacuum Warning — Joseph warns that inaccurate calculations could strand a traveler in space.
• Irreversible Choice — Eric accepts the permanent consequences of changing his past.
  • Request For Change — Eric asks for the opportunity to make different choices.
  • Device Activation — Joseph sends Eric through the device at a carefully selected moment.
• Ambiguous Arrival — Eric reaches the past but encounters immediate practical trouble and an unsettling stranger.
  • Broken Truck — Eric's truck breaks down after he emerges in the past.
  • Ally's Recognition — Ally is surprised that Eric knows her name despite their apparent first meeting.

Directed by

Thomas Hennessy

Key Cast

• Justin Hartley — Eric Laziter
• Chrishell Stause — Julia Practor
• James Kyson — Kal
• Alan Pietruszewski — Dr. Joseph Goyer
• Arielle Kebbel — Ally