Intellectual engineers Aaron (Shane Carruth) and Abe (David Sullivan) build and sell error-checking technology with the help of their friends Robert (Casey Gooden) and Phillip (Anand Upadhyaya). But when they accidentally invent what they think is a time machine, Abe builds a version capable of transporting a human and puts the device to the test. As the two friends obsess over their creation, they discover the dark consequences of their actions. Made on a miniscule budget, PRIMER’s experimental plot structure unwinds in everyday locations with dense dialogue prompting some critical ire when it was released. In Esquire, Mike D’Angelo wrote “... anybody who claims he fully understands what's going on in PRIMER after seeing it just once is either a savant or a liar.” Confusing or clever, PRIMER remains a staple of the time-travel movie canon.