Former engineer Shane Carruth announces himself as a force to watch with PRIMER, his first film. Carruth wrote, directed, edited, produced, photographed, scored, and stars in the film, which won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival. He plays Aaron, who, with his business partner and best friend, Abe (David Sullivan), experiments with a device that seems to have more power than they could ever have imagined. Playing with batteries, refrigeration, and other techniques and materials in Aaron's garage, they discover that their machine just might have the ability to move back in time. Originally dealing with Weebles figures and wristwatches, Aaron and Abe are soon considering making a box large enough to transport a human being--with remarkable results.

An indie hit, PRIMER was made for about $7,000. Carruth shot the film with a purposefully grainy look, as if it were made in the 1970s. The retro feel works well with the futuristic elements of the story, which lead Abe and Aaron to question reality, truth, and their own physical and mental being. Because he learned about film on his own without going to film school or making any previous shorts, Carruth brings a freshness to the genre that is invigorating, with unexpected plot twists and complex narratives that invite multiple viewings. PRIMER is an unusual, unique, challenging, and thoroughly entertaining movie.

Theatrical Release: OCTOBER 8, 2004

DVD Features:

Region (unknown)
Keep Case
Full Frame - 1.33

Distributor Notes: Everything you think you know about modern science is about to unravel in this critically-acclaimed film about two young engineers and the consequences they face when they invent a machine that enables them to travel back in time.

Source: Warner Home Video

Shane Carruth: Director, PRIMER (2004)
David Sullivan: Actor, PRIMER (2004)
Anand Upadbyaya: Actor, PRIMER (2004)
Casey Gooden: Actor, PRIMER (2004)
Carrie Crawford: Actor, PRIMER (2004)
Jay Butler: Actor, PRIMER (2004)
John Carruth: Actor, PRIMER (2004)
Samantha Thomson: Actor, PRIMER (2004)

Shane Carruth: Director, PRIMER (2004)

Shane Carruth: Director, PRIMER (2004)

Shane Carruth: Director, PRIMER (2004)

Shane Carruth: Director, PRIMER (2004)

"[A]n alluringly knotty feature....[A] coolly ragged, adventurous project..."
"[A]n ingenious movie about the perils of ingenuity....The film is, technically speaking, science fiction, but of an unusually rigorous and unassuming kind."
"PRIMER is one of those movies that's legendary on impact thanks to its felicitous combination of ingenuity, independence and dirt-cheapness."
"[I]t's eminently watchable because writer-director Shane Carruth has an ear for the way hyperactive techies actually talk."
"[T]he key to unlocking PRIMER is abandoning any attempt to solve the cinematic Rubik's Cube, and simply reveling in the inspired indie filmmaking."
"Carruth, both as an actor and as a one-man film industry, displays a meticulous attention to detail..."
"Carruth can certainly stand comparison with the early David Cronenberg, another scientist turned filmmaker with a similar gift for transforming dry theoretical concepts into unexpectedly involving drama."
Ranked #27 in Uncut's Best Films Of 2005 -- "Shane Carruth's debut is a lo-fi brainteaser, rich in complex conundrums and mind-warping physics..."