Trailer for See You Yesterday from Spike Lee puts fresh spin on time travel

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Most movies involving teens and time travel would likely find the young characters going back in time to win the lottery or show off for their other, dumber classmates, but SEE YOU YESTERDAY is changing things up with a timely take on the formula. Netflix has released the new trailer for the time travel film from producer Spike Lee, which finds C.J. (Eden Duncan-Smith) and her friend Sebastian (Danté Crichlow) using their time travel device to go back in time and stop her brother from being shot by the police.

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Directed by Stefon Bristol, the movie looks to take the lead characters down many frustrating paths as they try and save her brother, but in the end, they perhaps have to accept it may not be possible to change what’s already been done. This takes the topic at the heart of the Black Lives Matter movement and gives it a sci-fi twist, using that emotional and relevant approach to also act as an examination on how to accept and move on from a personal tragedy.

Bristol spoke with EW about the movie, saying that while he loves other big blockbusters and sci-fi movies he finds they don’t address larger issues in our real world.

“I love superhero movies, I’ll go see the Avengers, Spider-Man, but when I leave I feel empty. Escapism is great, but too much of escapism only leaves our people stagnant. There’s no more growth. What I hope to do is figure out how to take a strong message and somehow make it digestible for everybody, not just for a black audience but everybody. This is still a conflict that’s happening. Right now, understandably so, the lens of police brutality is going down a little bit in the media because we have so many other problems that we have to deal with. I still have something to say about it. It’s still here.”

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The movie is written by Bristol and Fredrica Bailey, and stars Eden Duncan-Smith, Danté Crichlow, Marsha Stephanie Blake, Brian “Stro” Bradley, Johnathan Nieves, Wavyy Jonez, Myra Lucretia Taylor, and Ron Bobb Semple, and is on Netflix premieres at the Tribeca Film Festival May 3 and hits Netflix May 17.

Here's the synopsis:

High school best friends and science prodigies C.J. and Sebastian spend every spare minute working on their latest homemade invention: backpacks that enable time travel. But when C.J.’s older brother Calvin dies after an encounter with police officers, the young duo decide to put their unfinished tech to use in a desperate bid to save Calvin. From director Stefon Bristol and producer Spike Lee comes See You Yesterday, a sci-fi adventure grounded in familial love, cultural divides and the universal urge to change the wrongs of the past.