Netflix’s newest teen horror film Time Cut lived up to its genre, but not in a good way. Viewers were certainly left horrified — not at the film’s cheap attempt at gore, but by the overwhelming cringiness in the movie’s confusing plot and lackluster attempt at executing a nostalgic period piece.
In short, Time Cut follows a teen boy from 2024 who accidentally time travels to 2003 – the same time his sister was murdered by a masked killer. The film is helmed by an unfortunate group of Gen-Z actors who have been mocked online for their roles in other cheesy Netflix series.
Time Cut features Griffin Gluck from Tall Girl, a film TikTok had fun humiliating due to its over-dramatic narrative surrounding the “difficulties” of dating as a tall high school girl. The statement piece of Tall Girl is Ava Michelle, the central actress and dancer briefly part of Abby Lee Miller’s Dance Moms team. Like in her movie, Michelle was booted from Miller’s team due to her height, leading to seasons-long drama where her mother desperately tried to get her back on the team.
Antonia Gentry from another memed Netflix show, Ginny and Georgia, also plays a main character in Time Cut. Ginny and Georgia was criticized for its laughable attempt at addressing biracial experiences amidst more fluffy drama like sexting boys and dating guys who tap dance down school halls.
Time Cut’s third main character is played by Madison Bailey of Outer Banks, one of the few Gen-Z Netflix shows with positive reviews from professional critics and girls crushing on the series’ blonde-haired surfers.
Despite this popular, youthful and fun cast, Time Cut couldn’t escape a similar scrutiny to Tall Girl and Ginny and Georgia. Social media users blame the film’s disappointing nature due to its inaccurate and mediocre portrayal of the Y2K culture of 2003.
Viewers expected to feel the nostalgia of Y2K films like Legally Blonde, The Hot Chick and Mean Girls, but were met with boring clothes and hair not reflective of the early 2000s. Y2K fashion of the early 2000’s emphasized McBling aesthetics, velour tracksuits, low waisted jeans, baggy men’s clothes and fun hairstyles like chunky highlights, frosted tips and spikey space buns.
Time Cut, on the other hand, did nothing new with their characters’ hair, reflecting the same hairstyles seen now. Gentry and Bailey wore tops with drawstrings reminiscent of Ross’ modern-day clearance section. Tie-dye was not trending in the 2000s and many Black women sported flat ironed hair curled up at the ends. Throughout the film, Gentry and Bailey’s hair just looks like any other high school girl from 2024.
Gluck’s wardrobe is even more boring, sporting a striped tee layered under an open button-up. His hair? Just a part down the middle. While movie plots often make or break a film’s success, falling short on costume design, especially for a targeted audience of nostalgic millennials, matters a lot too.
Time Cut’s flop on costuming is just a testament to the value clothing has on bringing the whole vibe and setting of a movie to life. Without eye-catching fashion, the nostalgia of the 2000s is hard to re-create in modern film.
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