A time-travel thriller that cuts deep and engrosses with every frame, Predestination features The Spierig Brothers at their innovative and creative best, while also boasting a revelatory performance by Sarah Snook.

Many of the best sci-fi films of late (Looper, Source Code) have used the time-travel concept alongside ethically rich themes. Predestination flips the script somewhat, opting for strong character development rather than a moralistic tone in its focus on one woman’s struggle with her place in the world, told alongside one man’s attempt to change history.

Although based on the classic sci-fi short story “All You Zombies” by Robert A. Heinlein, the tone and texture of Predestination feels wholly original, Australian filmmaking duo Michael and Peter Spierig (aka The Spierig Brothers) establishing themselves in a big way as a leading force in genre filmmaking, with this third feature their best yet.

Ethan Hawke (who also starred in the Spierig’s dystopian vampire thriller Daybreakers) stars as a time-travelling agent, who during his dogged pursuit of a terrorist known as “The Fizzle Bomber” meets a down and out writer (Sarah Snook) with a very cynical outlook on life.

It’s her story that quickly takes centre stage as we soon find out that she was abandoned as a child, raised in an orphanage, of considerable intelligence and strength, and…well, to speak anymore on the plot would be a disservice to the masterful storytelling on display.

What can be stated - and should be frequently with no hesitation – is how brilliant Sarah Snook is as the writer with the sordid history. With every piece of dialogue uttered there is an anguish at the crappy hand life has dealt her, alongside a simmering, laser focused anger towards those responsible.

There is also a weight to her story that not many sci-fi thrillers can boast. In order to make this extraordinary character work an extraordinary performance is needed, nay, demanded, and Snook delivers just that. Audiences will arrive for Ethan Hawke, but they will leave talking about Sarah Snook.

Of course being a time-travel movie lots of opportunities are abound to have fun with loops, paradoxes and the like, and Predestination does just that with a dizzying whirlwind of a plot, yet one that wisely takes time-out to absorb the emotional pulse of its characters amidst the time jumping theatrics.

Predestination is fine sci-fi, but even better is its chewy, dramatic centre which will sweep audiences away to uncharted and totally arresting territory.

So far each film made by the Spierig Brothers has been a vast improvement on the last, displaying impressive and mature jumps in storytelling and direction. With Predestination such a high cue, one can only eagerly anticipate what will come next.