Movie Substrate · Film
Primer (2004)
★ 6.8 · 2,399 ratings on TMDB
What happens if it actually works?
A group of fledgling inventors discover a complex method to manipulate reality. At first, they successfully game the stock market with it, but the consequences of the invention start to catch up with them.
DirectorShane Carruth
The emergence reading
Primer keeps every mind human — it fights its subject at zero distance. The story fights on E0/E8 of the E0–E14 reality ladder.
zero-distanceUS
⇄ Parameter shift — the dial this world turnsrigor: rigorous
E0timecausality loop enabled – objects can move backward up to several hours via a device (physics · personal)
Same rung, same subject
Films fighting at the same level of reality, about the same things.
Same subject, different rung
The same preoccupations examined at another scale — one mind versus a nation.
The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008)E9/E14 · Drama, Science Fiction
Contagion (2011)E4/E14 · Drama, Science Fiction
WarGames (1983)E12/E14 · Drama, Science Fiction
The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)E9/E14 · Drama, Science Fiction
Illang: The Wolf Brigade (2018)E9/E11 · Drama, Science Fiction
The Day After Tomorrow (2004)E12/E14 · Science Fiction, ThrillerAlso bends a rule of reality
Other films that change a standing rule of their world — ranked first by those bending it at the same rung.
Back to the Future (1985)alters at E0 · same rung · loose
Interstellar (2014)alters at E0 · same rung · rigorous
Avengers: Endgame (2019)alters at E0 · same rung · loose
Doctor Strange (2016)alters at E0 · same rung · rigorous
The Matrix (1999)alters at E0 · same rung · rigorous
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)alters at E0 · same rung · loose