Predestination

Predestination is a movie depicting an extended predestination paradox. Things begin somewhat gory in a fight scene that ends up with our main character having their face seared off after trying to apprehend a bad guy. Ethan Hawke, only known as The Bartender, is the man behind the bandages. He then is given his final mission to jump through time and seek out and kill the Fizzle Bomber, a mysterious character who has eluded Hawke for some time. He has a long conversation with a woman, The Unmarried Mother, who became a man, in the bar Hawke jumped back in time to, in which she explains his life. Eventually, Hawke convinces her to jump back in time with him and kill the Fizzle Bomber. This is where stuff gets super crazy, because part of The Unmarried Mother's story is about how she met this guy, fell in love, had a child with him, and the child gets kidnapped. What we find out is that an earlier version of the Unmarried Mother, Jane, falls in love with and has a child with her future self! On top of that, the kidnapped child that Jane has (with herself!) turns out to be Jane also! And wait, there's more. Ethan Hawke is just the future version of Jane with a reconstructed face. Yikes, that got all sorts of crazy really fast. It's nuts but Predestination actually does a pretty good job or explaining it and making it clear to the viewer what's happening. But, on a more philosophical level, I think the movie contemplates whether we are on a predestined path and if life is just an eventuality. Characters are given choices throughout the course of the movie sometimes even knowing the eventual outcomes yet ultimately remain on course, unable to break the cycle of the paradox. This movie's a thinker and I enjoyed it!