REVIEWER: nick tonkin

Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes is an endearing little film, with a clever conceit that the filmmakers twist to explore moments of humour, excitement, danger and heartwarming. 

Directed, shot and edited by Junta Yamaguchi as his feature debut, Two Minutes is a wonderful example of filmmaking where less is more. 

The film opens with Kato, a cafe owner who lives above the business, just heading home after finishing up work for the day. On arriving home he finds a message on his computer, from himself; two minutes into the future. Future Kato tells him to calm down and to go back down to the cafe and check the monitor there, and everything will make sense. Kato makes his way back to the cafe, to the monitor and sees that it displays his room at home...and another Kato. Kato tells Past Kato the spiel he himself just heard from his future self, and requests that Past Kato himself come downstairs to the shop, where everything will make sense. It didn’t, however. Word of mouth spreads, curious friends appear and soon there is an excited group at the cafe, wondering what they have their hands on. It doesn't take long for someone to suggest they should bet on the horses with this future power, until the moment is punctuated by the knowledge that they can only see two minutes into the future. However, it seems the power of knowledge two minutes in the future is enough to get this group in some big trouble.

Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes is a fun, creative film filled with real human moments in an unreal situation. It is an excellent debut for director Junta Yamaguchi, and will certainly be adopted into the pantheon of small, clever sci-fi films that punch above their weight.