The Coexistence of Romantic and Self-Love: Timeless
- Natasha Langridge-Thorpe
- Feb 15, 2022
- 10 min read
Timeless (2021) is a short, domestic drama film maintaining a naturalistic style through the narrative sequence of events that are unfolded via subtle dialogue and action. The matchmaking system, Tempus, requires users to wear a timer that counts down until they meet their soulmate. Determined to seek her Mother's approval, Monica feels pressured to marry her predestined soulmate. However, Monica's feelings for someone other than her soulmate forces her to choose between risking her Mother's disapproval or sacrificing her individual happiness.
Inspiration
Growing up, I avoided writing scripts within the romance genre. This was because the genre did not personally appeal to me as somebody who is not very romantic by nature. Ironically, my first script that was turned into a short film fell into the romance genre. This was due to a university assignment where my film group were given a random haiku and we had to create a film based upon the haiku. Reminiscing on this assignment encouraged me to challenge myself to create a script existing within a genre that I had previously avoided. Although, this time I was eager to expand upon the concept of love.
I was inspired by the television series Black Mirror (Brooker, 2011) and its consideration of the relationship between humanity and technology. Similar to the episode "Hang the DJ", Timeless investigates how a matchmaking system can negatively impact the pursuit of love. However, Timeless also discusses how technology, combined with dominant ideologies about romance, affects our desire to validate individual choices regarding relationships.
As someone who was obsessed with writing and the internet from a young age, it is no surprise that I have seen copious amounts of fanfiction. In particular, a fanfiction trope known as the soulmates trope. The trope maintains that people are simply destined to be with their one true love according to a set of rules within an alternative universe.
The soulmate trope can be formed in numerous ways, including:
- Your soulmate's name is on your wrist.
- You and your soulmate share the same tattoo/birthmark.
- The world is colourless until you meet your soulmate.
- You have a timer that counts down until you meet your soulmate.
The World of the Story
I focused on the final example to construct the world of my story. Nonetheless, during my research, I discovered that characters would typically conform to the rules of the universe. This made me wonder what would happen if the soulmate system was challenged by the characters' within the story. For instance, Tempus's countdown element asserts control over who you should pursue a relationship with without considering the freedom of individual choice.
Regarding visuals, I did not want the outward appearance of Tempus to come across as threatening due to how normalised the system would be in this universe. Hence, I used the visual of a baby pink heart to evoke love, kindness and innocence. However, the audience learns throughout the story that appearances can be deceiving regarding the intentions of Tempus and other characters.
Tempus is immediately introduced in act one when Monica is ten years old. Her mother, Fiona, introduces her to the matchmaking system by fastening the timer around her daughter's wrist. This scene encourages the notion that romantic love is highly valued in this world.
Flash forward to eight years later and Monica is eighteen. The action of her looking at her timer during an unsuccessful speed date signifies how reliant she is on the matchmaking system. She appears relieved upon realising that the man in front of her cannot be her soulmate since Tempus continues to count down after he has walked away.
The audience begins to discover more features about Tempus throughout Monica and her friend, Emily's conversation. For example, Tempus allows users to update their profile information, such as their ideal date. In this sense, Tempus can match users based on their similar interests, mirroring other dating apps. However, Tempus does not allow the user the freedom to view someone else's profile. Thus, the user cannot choose who they want to pursue a relationship with - only the system itself has access to such information. In this context, Emily knows Monica's ideal date from spending time with her, rather than reading this information from her Tempus profile.
Characters
Monica
When I was creating my protagonist, it was important to create someone who has been influenced by their upbringing and environment. Monica is passive and innocent in act one, but her experiences throughout the story cause her to transform into an assertive individual by act three.
I was inspired by the portrayal of Alyssa Greene from the film The Prom (Murphy 2020). Alyssa is well-liked by her peers, she is polite and always looks presentable. However, she sings about how secretly unhappy she is with her life in her song entitled "Alyssa Greene".
"Just have everything perfected by the time you reach eighteen..." - Alyssa Greene
In Monica's case, she accepts the idea of Tempus at the start of the script because she is influenced by Fiona to believe that the matchmaking system is correct. Her impressionable nature makes her willing to marry somebody she does not love because Tempus has chosen this person to be her soulmate.
However, Monica battles with an inner conflict between living her life the way her mother wants her to and living her life the way she wants to. For example, when Monica is in the banquet hall she feels overwhelmed by people telling her what to do. When I was writing this scene, I was inspired by a scene from Mamma Mia! (Llyod 2008) when the protagonist, Sophie, feels anxious during her bachelorette party.
Watch clip from 2:25 onwards.
Monica experiences a panic attack during the dance sequence in which the world around her moves too fast. Additionally, her breathing pattern syncs with the dancing and music in the room. Unlike Sophie, Monica does not faint, but she screams out of frustration. Her sudden outburst causes everything to stop: the people dancing, the room and the pounding music is suddenly not as loud as it was before. In this sense, the audience is invited into her head during this scene. This allows the audience to empathise with Monica because they can hear and see the situation from her perspective.
I decided to make Monica scream because it directly challenges her clean-cut, quiet image. Screaming also expresses how emotionally affected she is with the world around her - from her current partner, suppressing her feelings for Emily combined with the influence of Tempus and her Mum.
Audience identification is encouraged throughout the conflict of Monica's 'want' and the audience's 'need'. Monica wants to be accepted, but the audience realises that she is disregarding her personal growth: conflicting with the theme of her desire for validation.
Fiona
Monica's desire for validation comes from the person who raised her for the majority of her life: her Mother. In a traditional context, arranged marriages are often orchestrated by parents who choose their child's partner. The idea of parents governing their child's love life made me consider the emotional context behind the mother-daughter dynamic.
In act one, Fiona makes it clear that she values romantic love by gifting her child her own Tempus. However, Fiona's own relationship with Greg, Monica's father, falls apart when Monica walks in on Greg kissing another woman.
This circumstance perpetuates Fiona's enthusiasm for her daughter to find a romantic partner through Tempus. She believes that if Monica conforms to the matchmaking system, she will avoid potential heartbreak. Additionally, Monica feels responsible for ruining her parents' relationship because she told Fiona about Greg cheating on her. In this respect, Monica's guilt causes her to comply with her Mother's expectations for her.
Furthermore, in act one the audience sympathises with Monica through a childlike perspective. She believes that she is making the right choice by exposing her Father's affair, yet she is rejected by Fiona via physical contact.
Monica is willing, yet reluctant to be with the soulmate that Tempus chooses because this is a choice that could gain her Mother’s acceptance. While Fiona is not an inherently nasty character, she is an overbearing mother who has impulsive tendencies. The audience witness Fiona's overbearing behaviour during Monica's adulthood. For example, she chooses Monica's clothes for her, signs her up for speed dating and attends the speed date against her daughter's wishes.
During the party, Monica expresses her true feeling to Fiona about Robert and about Tempus. Additionally, this is the first time that she tells Fiona that the choices she has made have been for the benefit of her mother and not for herself. Contrastingly, Fiona interrupts Monica during act one showing her sense of control over her daughter during this period. However, Monica is the one interrupting Fiona in this scene, showing that the power dynamics have changed across the course of the script.
When Monica is free to be herself, she does not allow her Mother to restrict her dialogue. Thus, this scene illustrates her growing independence and her digression from codependency.
Fiona continues to praise Tempus throughout the script and expresses multiple times how important it is for her daughter to be romantically involved with someone. For instance, in act one, Fiona is quick to challenge Emily when she questions the legitimacy of Tempus. She also echos a popular concept: "Everyone needs someone to complete them".
The saying that everyone needs someone to complete them has been romanticised and normalised in various mediums. Nonetheless, it also has the potential to undermine the individual and base their worth solely on a romantic partner. Additionally, the phrase has the potential to illustrate an element of codependency rather than a healthy partnership. As a result, I wanted to challenge this concept and promote the idea of someone complimenting another person, rather than completing them.
This is a concept that Monica supports during the final scene with her Mother when discussing her new relationship with Emily. The idea of someone complimenting you rather than completing you has the possibility to promote the value of your worth as an individual with valuing the worth of your partner.
Robert
Robert is Monica's predestined soulmate throughout Timeless. His own Tempus strikes zero when he meets Monica in the middle of waiting tables. However, Robert proves that he is not an innocent party throughout the script.
When Monica is getting ready for their wedding, she panics while asking for more concealer to hide a bruise on her arm. At this stage, the audience does not know for certain how she obtained the bruise. Although, they can guess by Monica's frightened reaction that this is something that she does not want her mother to know about. Eventually, Monica and Emily's dialogue reveals that Robert was the person responsible for the bruise on her arm.
Nonetheless, the bruise on Monica's arm is just the beginning of Robert's abusive behaviour towards her. For example, Robert notices that she appears upset after their wedding ceremony. At first, it seems like he is concerned for her wellbeing considering that he asks her twice if she is okay and appears worried. However, the audience discovers that his concerns are built upon what other people think, rather than how Monica is feeling. It is also clear that she is frightened of him before he aggressively grabs her arm since she flinches upon hearing him speak to her.
As Monica begins to reach her breaking point at the party, she decides to step out for fresh air. Nevertheless, upon doing so she catches Robert cheating on her with another woman. Despite Tempus proclaiming the pair as soulmates, Robert challenges the system by acting upon his desire for someone other than Monica. Yet, he is not willing to break up with her and shows a willingness to marry her.
As the pair argue about his infidelity, he uses Monica's desire for validation against her. Robert knows that Monica is willing to marry him to fulfil her mother's wishes and he attempts to manipulate her into staying with him, in spite of his affair.
At this point, Robert is explicitly aware of Monica's feelings for Emily. Additionally, Robert's affair is the final situation that pushes Monica to finally reach her breaking point. As a result, Monica physically breaks Tempus by smashing the matchmaking system interface against the side of a car. In this sense, she is freeing herself from feeling trapped in an unhappy marriage that was encouraged by a matchmaking system, her "soulmate" and her mother.
When Robert and Monica are separated, the audience witnesses Monica healing both mentally and physically.
Emily
Emily is Monica's outspoken best friend who outwardly disagrees with Tempus. Emily does not have her own Tempus which shows how much she opposes the concept. Despite having feelings for Monica, Emily shows up to her speed date for moral support. However, when Tempus alerts that Monica and Robert are soulmates, Emily excuses herself.
Nevertheless, Emily is concerned that Monica is marrying Robert for the wrong reasons. When Monica is getting ready for her wedding, Emily notices that she is attempting to hide Robert's abuse. Concerned, Emily advises Monica that she doesn't have to marry him even if Tempus suggests otherwise. When Monica attempts to defend his behaviour, Emily suggests that Monica is agreeing to the marriage to appease Fiona. Consequently, Monica tells her that she does not understand what it is like to be Fiona's daughter. Furthermore, she avoids answering the question of whether she loves Robert and lashes out at Emily, asking her what she would know about love.
Originally, I planned that Emily would shout back at Monica and reveal that she was in love with her through dialogue. However, I realised that sometimes action without dialogue can reveal information to the audience. For instance, Emily's embarrassed stare has the potential to have a more emotional impact because the audience can see how hurt she is by the visuals alone. Emily's expression coupled with Monica's look of realisation allows the viewer to process the information and allows them to take an active role in joining the dots together. Conclusively, their silence speaks volumes.
Realising that Emily has feelings for her is another situation that pushes Monica to her breaking point depicted later in the script.
Monica walks down the street in her wedding dress having just fled her wedding. For once, she doesn't look neat and presentable like the audience has known her to be throughout the script. She appears chaotic and unkempt while allowing her emotions to run freely without judgement during this scene. She is alone with her thoughts until Emily offers her a lift in her car.
During the moment of reconciliation between the two women, I thought that it was important that they apologise to one another since this has been a difficult process for both of them. Thus, the audience is encouraged to understand both of their perspectives.
Additionally, I felt that it was worthwhile to show that Emily does not attempt to pressurise Monica into making a decision about their relationship during this scene. Instead, she is genuinely concerned for Monica's wellbeing.
Moreover, Monica has already broken the Tempus system by not staying with her predestined soulmate and smashing the interface. However, she wants to be rid of the concept for good by the end of act three. Therefore, she throws it out of the window and frees herself from the device that has influenced her decisions. Additionally, she rids herself of the same device that has made her lack independence on the route to finding a romantic partner. By the end of Timeless, she makes the decision to take pride in her self-worth on her journey to pursue her own happiness.
Conclusively, romantic love, compared to other kinds of love (familial, platonic and self-love), is highly valued in society and encouraged by various dating apps. However, oftentimes romantic love is idealised with the notion that somebody else exists to complete another person. Such a belief system has the potential to promote co-dependency and sacrificing individuality in search of love. However, Timeless aims to promote the concept that self-love and romantic love can co-exist. It is fun to be in a romantic relationship - just don't sacrifice yourself along the way.
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