Given how well-worn the time travel and multiverse concepts have become — thanks to everything from Doctor Who to the Marvel Cinematic Universe — it’s refreshing when one breaks from the familiar formula. Christopher Nolan’s Tenet was certainly the most original of the 2020s, only for its convoluted plot and lack of answers to be more frustrating than entertaining.

With Site, writer-director Jason Eric Perlman offers one of the most conceptually fascinating takes on time travel yet. Centered on property inspector Neil, played by Will Trent‘s Jake McLaughlin, the small-town family man tries to win his way back into their life after a drunk-driving accident saw his wife kick him out.

After inspecting an abandoned government test site as part of a big deal for his realtor boss, Neil begins having haunting visions of a family tormented in an internment camp in the past. With few people believing him, Neil tries to find the truth behind what happened at the facility 50 years ago before it completely destroys his life.

For the first half of the film, Site certainly had me hooked, as the characters were grounded with interesting arcs. The mystery behind the abandoned facility and visions also creates some intrigue. However, Perlman doesn’t quite land the ship as the plot becomes messier and messier.

Site’s Story Never Knows Whether To Give Us Answers Or Not

Time travel is an infamously complicated concept that storytellers generally take two very different paths to tackling: they either explain in detail how their devices work, thus bogging the story down in rules and science, or purposely avoid this discussion, giving them more freedom. I’ve always been partial to Looper‘s method, in which Bruce Willis shuts it down with “It doesn’t matter!“.

With Site, Perlman weirdly finds himself in a middle ground between telling us what’s going on and leaving some things up to interpretation. Neil’s research into the facility’s past offers some answers as to what happened and vaguely what they were working on, while some character discussions give explicit half-answers.

I could argue that the movie is meant to be more about its characters, particularly Neil redeeming himself in the eyes of his wife and son, or journalist Naomi, played by The Terror alum Miki Ishikawa, dealing with racist criticism and her troubled past with Neil. But even as it takes moments to focus on these beats, the big focus on the mystery makes this argument hard to justify.

This is even further evidenced by how the movie closes out its big arcs, which is one of the most confusing I’ve seen in a long time. Site‘s combination of time travel and reincarnation ideology is never satisfactorily explained. It also raises too many questions about the characters’ fates.

Perlman’s Direction Is Both Stylish & Hampered By His Budget

Despite being a fairly independent production, I do have to commend Perlman for providing some unique visuals. The kaleidoscopic-like approach to Neil’s visions makes them feel simultaneously dreamlike and nightmarish, while the depictions of the past lives he becomes entangled with are nicely practical in their post-World War I setting.

However, Perlman’s ambitions are often hampered by a smaller budget. Certain scenes are too clearly sH๏τ in front of green screens, with his actors looking out of place with their surroundings, while some visual effects don’t quite land the way they were intended.

Arielle Kebbell Is The True Standout Of Site’s Cast

Having been an admirer of Jake McLaughlin’s work since the woefully underrated Believe, I was looking forward to him getting another complex character in the form of Neil, who is keen to leave behind his wilder past and be a proper family man. Though his arc starts off strong, I couldn’t help but want more emotion from him once the stakes rise.

The other problem with his and a few other actors’ performances is the direction given for when they’re having their visions. Their absent stares don’t really convey the emotions needed in certain scenes. It also feels goofy, taking me out of those moments.

The one standout of the bunch is Arielle Kebbell as Neil’s wife, Elena. The actress brings remarkable compᴀssion to her character as a mother wanting what’s best for her son, even if holding on to some past love for her husband.

Site is a movie that’s made up of a solid foundation with an interesting concept, ambitious direction, and a talented cast that can’t find a way to maintain its better efforts along the way. While it may not be one of my favorites of the genre, its twist on the time travel genre will at least stick with me far more than Tenet did.