In the Blink of an Eye

• Directed by Andrew Stanton
• January 26, 2026 (Sundance) / February 27, 2026 (Hulu)

Three interconnected stories exploring the history of the world as seen through the everyday life of the people of the time.

So the buzzing of a sex toy gives way to an alarm? Interesting transition. One of several unusual ideas used to tell the stories of In the Blink of an Eye which span the distant past into the far future. Each is essentially a slice of life of that era in an at times thoughtful film directed by Andrew Stanton, written by Colby Day which stars Kate McKinnon, Rashida Jones, and Daveed Diggs.

My main critique of this is that it switches between each story too quickly while attempting to draw parallels between the tales. You become invested in a particular story and then it moves on and then back. I’m not saying each one should’ve been completed before the next began but a little bit more time before switching to the next one was more to my tastes. Then again the next time you are in a story here has been a time jump so those abrupt stops DO make the jumps easier.

I wouldn’t expect much out of a 90-minute movie, but it feels like there’s a lot packed in. Establishing shot aside, each narrative is attempting to tell a story and spends its time largely on doing just that. The bouncing around does provide a nice hook and though I think the segments were too short if they were longer I don’t think that hooked would not have worked. It gets you to the point where you are invested and then moves on leaving you hungry for the next bit.

Kate McKinnon features in the future storyline and she was a bit of a surprise to me. I’m not saying she blew me out of the water, but her dramatic chops were better than expected. There she plays a pilot/scientist monoymously named Coakley of a ship of a seed ship with an AI named ROSCO (Rhona Rees) heading to the distant world of Kepler 16b to restart humanity after an environmental collapse on Earth.

Her story is connected in a few ways to the earlier two. One is the discovery of life extending therapies/techniques used here to give her a longer life for the mission. That has been a medical dream of science for ages, but a throwaway line says humanity decided to use it only in special cases. No context on why given. A huge discovery that humanity collectively went “Nah” over. That bothers me.

These are life amongst death stories. Death of a child, death of a parent, or death for all play a part but the focus is life carrying on as difficult as it may be. Navigating relationships to the death of a spouse to a very Star Trek decision with the needs of the many outweighing the needs of the few. A lot of what is seen here are painfully hard choices that are needed in life. Not ridiculously difficult or existing purely for drama but rather ones caused by the curveballs of life with each one happening naturally.

This bit of science-fiction doesn’t aim to impress or shock. Its goal is to be thoughtful. It’s well written and excellently acted with a small cast which keeps the runtime down. It is a story with almost no fat in it. Very lean but never lacking. As a science-fiction film there are no epic battles or anything close to Star Wars. It aims for meaning and depth.

While the present day and future stories both use English, the one set at the fall of the Neanderthals uses no English. It’s about the waning days of the species and eschews the trope of violent confrontation with humans in favor of something softer. They have a language but it is never translated with events and the meaning of dialogue conveyed by the actors involved allowing for the suspension of disbelief.

I’ve seen movies and read stories that the major connecting thread was an object passed from person to person. Here of all things it’s a 45+ thousand-year-old acorn. Not sure if it’s symbolism or just a cheesy little bit. It starts in Neanderthal times and makes it all the way to another planet before being burned after getting bronzed. What an ignominious end.

The Neanderthal family that eventually joins the human group is the first link in a story that hints we are all connected. The acorn starts as a gift of a type before making it to paleontologist Claire (Rashida Jones) in the palm of a find whose eventual husband Greg (Daveed Diggs) takes it from the lab and bronzes before winding up in the hands of Coakley. The son of Claire and Greg make Coakley possible. Speaking of the couple, they were expecting a second baby but no mention of a miscarriage or one is ever seen. So…

There’s a sense of hope in this movie. It never came off as negative towards humanity or the human condition. It was hopeful in that it said there’s always more to come. Something new or another tomorrow is around the corner. Change is inevitable but that change is not a complete end.

It’s my understanding that In the Blink of an Eye has not been everyone’s cup of tea. I get that. When people hear science-fiction, they want something less quiet but I think this is an excellent film. It may not have be as profound as the people behind it wanted it, but it is a substantive story about the human condition and the cycle of life.