Tears running down her face, body aching, revenge coursing through her veins, Jamie faces the killer who killed her own mother.
Jamie, a seventeen year old girl, continues to rebel against her worried mother whose friend group was targeted during a killing spree. Her mother, Pam, just wants to be able to protect Jamie as she is the age her friend group was when they were attacked. On Halloween night Jamie heads to a heavy metal concert.
To keep an eye on her, Pam sends her dad, Blake. We meet her super genius friend, Amelia who also loves heavy metal. We meet Lauren who is the mother of Amelia and went to high school with Pam and Blake. Pam passes out candy to the trick or treaters, when the killer comes back after 35 years to take Pam’s life. Unlike other slasher movies she puts up a fight.
When Pam was alive, Jamie ignored her mother’s wishes to keep her sheltered. As she is feeling emotional about her mom, Amelia builds a time machine for a school project. Although her friend was working hard to build the machine she was missing something.
While meeting her friend, the killer attacks Jamie. When she starts to get attacked she runs to the time machine and as the knife stabs the machine it generates power to travel her to the day of the first killing. Bright neon colors, the smell of cigarettes, and the tune of Madonna fill the scene. She is back in 1987. While back in time, she meets a young version of her mom, dad, her best friend’s mother and all their friends. Secrets start to unfold about her parents.
Throughout the movie she has limited time to find out who the killer is with her best friend’s mother, who turns out to be even smarter than her daughter. The mother and daughter work on fixing the time machine in their different times. With a “Back to the Future” movie plot with a twist she flows throughout the movie piecing together who killed her mother. Once she finally figures out who the killer is she is able to return. Since she changed some things there were lots of surprises when she got back home.
This movie was really nostalgic but also very modern. It appeals to people who were 80s babies and Gen Z because of the humor. They reference 80s movies throughout the film as well.
The cinematography was wonderful. There were lots of good transitions and angles of shots. How certain scenes were shot could give the viewer anxiety and thrill while watching. Overall the cinematography was clear and almost reminded me of “Scream.”
The plot moved kind of fast, it is just enough to keep the viewer on their toes. They panned from one suspect to another and it all flowed together nicely. It was nice seeing two different ideas collide and go hand in hand.
David Matalon is an American writer, director and actor. He is most known for “In 3 Days” and “The Clearing.” Totally Killer is on Amazon Prime. This show is recommended for adults and young adults. It contains scenes of violence, inappropriate language, suggestive content, and drug/alcohol use.
My final rating:
Characters: 8.5/10
Plot: 9/10
Cinematography: 9/10
My overall rating would be a 9/10. I really enjoyed this movie and although it has 80s references for my mom, there were also references that she didn’t get but I could. I really liked that they took two different ideas and combined them to make a surprising plot full of interesting moments. When it was revealed who the killer was I was shocked and that doesn’t usually happen for me since I can usually guess who it is. I recommend this series to anyone who enjoys “Back to the Future” or “Scream.”
*Editor’s note: Isabella Langham is a student writer. All views expressed in the commentary are her own and are independent of the district, Rouse High School and the publication.