“In Time,” starring Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfried, tells the story of an alternate society, where people are programmed to stop aging at 25 — then their clock starts. All people have one year given to them after 25, but the discrepancy between social classes makes extra time far easier to come by for some. 

Time is the new currency — when a person runs out, his or her life ends. Will (Timberlake) barely has more than one day on his clock, and Sylvia (Seyfried) has more than she could ever need.

This is an action movie that is packed with political undertones speaking to the problems of our time. The rich raise taxes and the cost of living on the poor as a form of population control — the more things cost, the faster time runs out. 

Police are called “time keepers,” for the only real crime in this society is stealing time, because time is all that matters. Time stealing is typically seen as a lower-class crime, but this movie begs the question: Can you steal what is already stolen.

Will teams up with Sylvia when he is given the gift of a century and is able to pass through the “time zones” to the wealthiest zone. 

Together, they fight back against the system. Robbing Sylvia’s father’s banks, the two become outlaws of the best kind: those that steal time only to give it away to those who really need it. 

The rich have been stealing time from the poor and watching them die for too long, and Will and Sylvia are determined to find justice.

At a time in America when issues like taxes and unequal wealth distribution are creating huge political movements, the subtle themes in this movie bring to light an unpleasant reality that is hard to ignore.