Things Will Be Different

Things Will Be Different is an American time travel thriller film written and directed by Michael Felker in his directorial debut. It stars Adam David Thompson and Riley Dandy as brother and sister robbers who use time travel to lay low after their crimes. The film premiered at the 2024 South by Southwest festival on March 11, 2024.

Premise
When estranged siblings Joseph and Sidney rendezvous at a local diner after a close-call robbery, they hightail it to an abandoned farmhouse that transports them to a different time in order to escape the local cops. Their getaway is derailed when an unknown and cryptic metaphysical force emerges and blocks them from returning home.

Trapped on the puzzling plot of land, their captor makes it clear that no one can leave until their deadly demands are met. What results from their entrapment not only bends the forces of spacetime —forcing the two to question everything they know about their own reality— but bends Joe and Sid's familial bonds beyond the point of trust and forgiveness.

Cast

 * Adam David Thompson as Joseph
 * Riley Dandy as Sidney
 * Chloe Skoczen
 * Justin Benson
 * Sarah Bolger
 * Jori Lynn Felker

Production
It was directed by Michael Felker, who also wrote the screenplay. The Jewish filmmaker makes his directorial debut with Things Will Be Different. As a film editor, the graduate of Florida State University's College of Motion Picture Arts was most recently responsible for the science fiction thriller Synchronic and the horror comedy Something in the Dirt by Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead. Together with Rebeca Marques, he also took on this work on Things Will Be Different. According to Felker, he was inspired, among other things, by the films Looper by Rian Johnson and Blood Simple by the Coen brothers.

Adam David Thompson and Riley Dandy play siblings Joseph and Sidney. Felker's executive producer, Justin Benson, his wife, Jori Lynn Felker, the Irish actress, Sarah Bolger, and the young actress, Chloe Skoczen, play supporting roles. Executive producers, Aaron Moohread and David Lawson Jr., also have cameos. Chrissy Fiorilli-Ellington served as casting director.

Originally, filming was going to take place on Felker's abandoned family farm in Michigan, but poor conditions forced production to pivot to the Mill District farm in Indiana a month before production. Cinematographer Carissa Dorson has worked on a variety of short films and television series in the past.

Former guitarist of the US post-rock band Tristeza Jimmy LaValle and multi-instrumentalist Michael A. Muller contributed the film music.

Release
Things Will Be Different had its world premiere on March 11, 2024, at the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas. It also screened at the Overlook Film Festival on April 5, 2024.

Reception
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 91% of 22 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.8/10.