---
title: "About Time"
year: 2013
kind: "film"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/about-time"
fi1m_id: "about-time"
imdb_id: "tt2194499"
tmdb_id: 122906
wikidata_id: "Q4668586"
fi1m_score: 66
critics_score: 57
critics_reviews: 22
published: "2026-09-22T21:54:09.331266+00:00"
updated: "2026-09-22T21:54:09.913263+00:00"
region: "PT"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# About Time (2013)

Directed by Richard Curtis · 2h 03m · IGAC M/12 · Drama, Romance, Fantasy

## Identity

About Time

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/about-time
- **Type:** Film
- **Fi1m ID:** about-time
- **IMDb ID:** tt2194499
- **TMDB ID:** 122906
- **Wikidata ID:** Q4668586
- **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2194499/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/122906, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4668586

**Fi1m score: 66** · Critics 57 from 22 reviews

*In a sentence:* He can rewind his whole life and mostly uses it to get the first kiss right

> Richard Curtis gives a young man the power to relive any moment and finds, to his credit, that the story is about his father rather than his girl. The romance is engineered and the rules keep changing; Bill Nighy makes it worth the evening.

## Synopsis

On New Year’s Day, 21-year-old Tim Lake (Domhnall Gleeson) is taken into his father’s study in the family house on the Cornish coast and told a secret: the men of the Lake family can travel back in time within their own lives. Stand in a dark cupboard, clench your fists, and you return to any moment you have already lived. His father (Bill Nighy) has used the gift mostly to read more books. Tim resolves to use it to find a girlfriend. A summer spent chasing Charlotte (Margot Robbie), a friend of his sister Kit Kat (Lydia Wilson), teaches him that going back cannot make anyone want him. He moves to London to train as a lawyer, lodges with the misanthropic playwright Harry (Tom Hollander), and in a restaurant kept in total darkness meets Mary (Rachel McAdams).

## Review

Richard Curtis, who wrote [*Four Weddings and a Funeral*](https://film.one/film/four-weddings-and-a-funeral) and [*Notting Hill*](https://film.one/film/notting-hill), here writes and directs a romance with a device in it. On his 21st birthday Tim Lake (Domhnall Gleeson) is told by his father (Bill Nighy) that the men of the family can go back in time within their own lives: stand in a dark cupboard, clench your fists, and you are wherever you were. Tim decides to use this to get a girlfriend. *About Time* is a soft, long, likeable film that keeps changing its own rules, and it is at its best when it forgets the girlfriend and looks at the father.

Gleeson is a good choice for a Curtis hero because he does not look like one. He is tall and pale and holds his elbows as though they were lent to him, and when he goes back to redo a botched moment the joke is that he botches it again, differently. The Cornwall scenes are the film’s happiest: a cluttered house above the sea, tea on the beach in any weather, Nighy padding about in a cardigan with a paperback, Lindsay Duncan’s Mum saying exactly what she thinks, Richard Cordery’s Uncle D unsure what year it is. John Paul Kelly fills the house with things bought decades ago, and John Guleserian lights it in late-afternoon gold, so that London, when Tim moves there to be a lawyer, looks grey and rented by comparison.

The romance is where the machinery shows. Tim meets Mary (Rachel McAdams) in a restaurant kept in total darkness, and Curtis plays their first minutes as voices over a black screen, a nice idea. Then Tim loses her through some time-travel housekeeping on behalf of his landlord Harry (Tom Hollander), and has to find her again, win her again and get their first night right, and Mark Day cuts the repeated attempts so fast that we see three versions of one doorway in ten seconds. It is funny. It is also where we started to feel uneasy, because Mary never learns what he is doing and the film never wonders whether she should. Verity Hawkes gives her a wardrobe of patterned frocks; the script gives her little else to want.

The rules do not hold. Early on Dad says the gift cannot change the wide world, only your own small one; later the film forgets that when it needs to and remembers it when it needs a sad scene. If you keep a tally of what the cupboard can and cannot undo, the second hour will annoy you. We stopped keeping one at about the point Tim was using it to spare friends small embarrassments, because the film so plainly does not care and is asking us not to.

What it does care about is the father. Nighy plays Dad with his hands in his pockets and his sentences trailing off, a man who has had the gift for decades and has used it mostly to read more books. Every scene he shares with Gleeson is better than the scene either side of it. There is a conversation between them late on, which we will not describe, that moved us a good deal more than we expected, and it did so because Nighy underplays it almost to nothing and Curtis, for once, does not put a song on top. When the film is about how to spend an ordinary afternoon, and with whom, it is quietly good.

Hollander, as a playwright who hates everybody, gets the sharpest lines and delivers them as if they cost him. Margot Robbie has a summer’s worth of screen time as Charlotte, the first girl Tim fails to win in any timeline, and is more amused than the writing. Nick Laird-Clowes supplies gentle piano under the family scenes and Curtis lays pop songs over the rest, one per montage, and by the fourth we could feel the film reaching for the tissues before we had.

At 123 minutes it is half an hour longer than its story, and Curtis teaches his one lesson in voiceover at the end in case the beach and the cardigan had not got it across. Set beside [*Groundhog Day*](https://film.one/film/groundhog-day) (1993), which also gave a man his days back and made him earn every one, this is a gentler, lazier, warmer thing. See it for Nighy and Gleeson, with someone whose father you know, and do not try to make the time travel add up. It will not, and it was never the point.

*Fi1m score 66, published 22 September 2026.*

## What the critics say

The critics are split almost down the middle on About Time, and the ones who like it tend to like it in spite of themselves. Most agree the film is warmest when it stops being a romance and becomes a story about a son and his father, and Bill Nighy draws praise in nearly every notice, positive or not. Domhnall Gleeson is widely thought an appealing lead, and several reviews find his pairing with Rachel McAdams the thing that keeps the picture afloat.

The reservations gather around sentimentality, length and a cosy, privileged worldview that a number of British critics find smug. Several also complain that the time-travel rules are loose and carry no consequences. A smaller group goes further: The Playlist and Eye for Film argue the hero’s use of his gift on the heroine is manipulative rather than sweet. The spread is very wide, from Collider’s near-rave to Eye for Film’s outright dismissal.

## Straight answers

**Is About Time worth watching?**

*About Time* is worth an evening for anyone who wants a soft, likeable romance with a time-travel device and does not mind it running half an hour long; we scored it 66. The romance is engineered and the rules keep shifting, but Bill Nighy and Domhnall Gleeson, as father and son, make the family scenes quietly good.

**How long is About Time, and what is it rated?**

*About Time* runs 2h 03m and is rated M/12 by the IGAC in Portugal. It is a drama and romance film.

**Where can I watch About Time in Portugal?**

*About Time* is streaming on SkyShowtime in Portugal, and it is also available to rent from Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV from €3.99. Availability is checked daily; the links above go straight to each service.

**How violent or frightening is About Time, and is it suitable for children?**

*About Time* is a 12A in the UK and contains no violence or frights to speak of; the R in the US reflects language and adult relationships rather than anything alarming. It suits teenagers and adults well, and is likely to bore younger children rather than upset them.

**How does About Time compare to Groundhog Day?**

*About Time* is a gentler, lazier and warmer film than [*Groundhog Day*](https://film.one/film/groundhog-day), and the earlier film is the tighter of the two. Both give a man his time back, but Harold Ramis makes Bill Murray earn every lesson, while Richard Curtis lets his hero off lightly. Choose *Groundhog Day* for the sharper comedy and *About Time* for the father and son.

**What should I watch after About Time?**

After *About Time*, try [*Groundhog Day*](https://film.one/film/groundhog-day) (1993, Fi1m 88): The same gift, one town, one day, and every lesson properly earned. Then [*Truly, Madly, Deeply*](https://film.one/film/truly-madly-deeply) (1990, Fi1m 80): Alan Rickman comes back from the dead and is annoying about the heating; and [*Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind*](https://film.one/film/eternal-sunshine-of-the-spotless-mind) (2004, Fi1m 88): Memory rewritten for love, with the consequences this film declines to face.

### Reviews we read (22)

- **Empire**, Mark Dinning (80/100, inferred): The critic calls it Curtis's most interesting, mature and deeply moving film, praising the father-son focus and performances by Gleeson and Nighy. He singles out the shift to emotional depth and family themes for praise over the rom-com elements. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/time-4-review/)
- **Radio Times**, Alexia Skinitis (4/5): The critic calls it a cute comedic yarn that ranks highly among Curtis classics, highlighting the father-son relationship over the romance as the film's heart. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-yojsaz/about-time/)
- **Los Angeles Times**, Michael Phillips (78/100, inferred): The review recommends the film as a wildly improbable but ultimately charming romantic comedy that works despite its time-travel premise and contrived elements. It singles out the effortlessly skillful cast, especially Bill Nighy, for making the material land. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-about-time-review-story.html)
- **The Guardian**, Peter Bradshaw (78/100, inferred): The critic finds the film a good-natured, daft but sweet fantasy romance that is impossible to dislike despite its traditional Curtis elements and Hugh Grant-replicant lead. It is heartfelt with a fragile sincerity, though it requires a sweet tooth. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/sep/05/about-time-review)
- **RogerEbert.com**, Susan Wloszczyna (77/100, inferred): The critic finds herself seduced by the film's feel-good romantic message despite its self-indulgent elements and is won over by the charming performances. She singles out the impeccable casting, particularly Domhnall Gleeson as the lead and Bill Nighy as the father, along with a standout comic turn by Tom Hollander. [Read](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/about-time-2013)
- **Variety**, Leslie Felperin (75/100, inferred): The review calls the film a sweet, familiar and reassuringly bland romance that evokes deja vu but is buoyed by strong chemistry between leads. It singles out the radiant, believable pairing of Domhnall Gleeson and Rachel McAdams as what keeps the picture aloft. [Read](https://variety.com/2013/film/global/film-review-about-time-1200575189/)
- **Screen Daily** (70/100, inferred): A warm-hearted time-travelling rom-com that amuses and hits emotional notes especially in the father-son relationship, but lacks balance or tone and feels familiar with a ponderous structure. [Read](https://www.screendaily.com/about-time/5059085.article)
- **Slant Magazine**, Chris Cabin (70/100, inferred): The critic calls About Time a surprisingly thoughtful romantic comedy that keeps emotional gooeyness modulated with big laughs and strong performances for most of its runtime. It praises the pacing and self-reflective ideas about life and filmmaking but faults the softening into safe, sappy family-values territory at the end. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/about-time/)
- **The Hollywood Reporter**, Stephen Dalton (65/100, inferred): The critic finds About Time a modestly charming rom-com with time-travel elements, praising the lead performances and laughs but criticizing its overlong length, thin characters, and heavy sentimentality. It admires the ambition but notes it falls short of classics like Groundhog Day. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/time-film-review-2-602866/)
- **Time Out**, Dave Calhoun (3/5): The critic finds the film familiar and comforting yet messy with patchy humour, praising the tender father-son relationship but noting some trite moments. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/about-time)
- **The New Yorker**, Anthony Lane (44/100, inferred): The critic sees the film as emblematic of Curtis's metaphysical smugness and class-bound sentimentality, where time travel serves only to smooth over life's imperfections without real stakes. He singles out the softened, blunted details and the heroine's implausible descent into demure domesticity as symptomatic flaws. [Read](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2013/11/11/back-to-the-past)
- **The New York Times**, A.O. Scott (43/100, inferred): The review portrays the film as a flimsy, complacent romantic comedy that measures the decline of British manhood through its passive hero. It singles out the dull, frictionless ideal of happiness and the film's militant complacency as a key complaint. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/01/movies/about-time-a-british-confection-from-richard-curtis.html)
- **Evening Standard** (40/100, inferred): The critic finds the film cosy to the point of smug, with an insular and patronising worldview despite an endearing lead performance. He singles out the privileged hero's effortless success and the it's-a-wonderful-life message for complaint. [Read](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/about-time-film-review-8801175.html)
- **Vulture**, David Edelstein (40/100, inferred): The review portrays About Time as a sentimental sermon on living in the moment, appreciating some jokes and the time-travel premise but lamenting the shift from humor to heavy-handed homily. [Read](https://www.vulture.com/2013/11/movie-review-about-time.html)
- **The Independent** (20/100, inferred): The critic despises the film as glib and inept despite an improvement on Curtis's prior work, strong cast and attractive locations. He singles out the smug portrayal of privileged middle-class life and the clumsy handling of time-travel rules for particular complaint. [Read](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/film-review-about-time-richard-curtis-s-directorial-swan-song-is-awful-actually-8800865.html)
- **Collider**, Matt Goldberg (A-): The critic praises how Richard Curtis uses the time travel concept to create both a charming love story and a powerful message about cherishing the present rather than the past. The film is noted for its relatable characters, witty comedy, strong performances especially by Gleeson, McAdams, and Nighy, and its emotional depth beyond typical rom-com tropes. [Read](https://collider.com/about-time-review/)
- **Den of Geek**, Simon Brew (3/5): The critic praises the film's charm, humor, emotional depth, and distinctive British voice while noting its familiar themes and warm characters. They criticize its excessive length and the time-travel device feeling underused beyond a narrative tool. [Read](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/about-time-review-2/)
- **Digital Spy**, Stella Papamichael (40/100, inferred): The critic finds the film uneven, overlong, and implausible with familiar Curtis tropes, though it has some witty moments and strong performances from Gleeson and Nighy. They suggest Curtis is better as a writer than director. [Read](https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a509440/about-time-review-richard-curtiss-directorial-swansong/)
- **HeyUGuys**, Steven Neish (2/5): The romantic comedy elements work reasonably well thanks to charming leads and sweet chemistry, but the film fails completely as science fiction due to inconsistent rules and a lack of dramatic stakes or consequences. [Read](https://www.heyuguys.com/about-time-review/)
- **The Playlist**, The Playlist Staff (D): The film is critiqued for its creepy, unethical use of time travel to manipulate a relationship without consent or consequences, turning the female lead into an object and revealing itself as a story about men lying to women. It offers mild comedy but no real drama or moral engagement. [Read](https://theplaylist.net/review-domnhall-gleeson-uses-time-travel-to-romance-rachel-mcadams-in-about-time-20131030/)
- **The Wrap** (30/100, inferred): The critic finds the film overly sentimental and mawkish without enough of Curtis's usual witty dialogue to balance it. The time-travel premise leads to a message about living in the moment, but the lack of sharp comedy and reliance on sap makes the story feel tedious. [Read](https://www.thewrap.com/time-review-minutes-drag-like-hours-mawkish-time-travel-romance/)
- **Eye for Film**, Scott Macdonald (10/100, inferred): The critic calls the film lowest-common-denominator saccharine with an abusive, manipulative protagonist at its core whose time-travel powers enable non-consensual behavior toward women. Female characters are poorly written as objects or victims, and the story fails both as sci-fi and human drama. [Read](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/about-time-2013-film-review-by-scott-macdonald)

## Details

- **Director:** Richard Curtis
- **Director:** Richard Curtis
- **Writer:** Richard Curtis
- **Cinematography:** John Guleserian
- **Editor:** Mark Day
- **Music:** Nick Laird-Clowes
- **Production design:** John Paul Kelly
- **Costume design:** Verity Hawkes
- **Producer:** Eric Fellner, Tim Bevan, Nicky Kentish Barnes
- **Cast:** Domhnall Gleeson as Tim Lake; Rachel McAdams as Mary; Bill Nighy as Dad; Tom Hollander as Harry; Margot Robbie as Charlotte; Lydia Wilson as Kit Kat; Lindsay Duncan as Mum; Richard Cordery as Uncle D
- **Runtime:** 2h 03m
- **Certificate (IGAC):** M/12
- **Release (Portugal):** 31 October 2013
- **Genres:** Drama, Romance, Fantasy
- **Budget:** $12 million
- **Box office:** $87 million
- **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OIFdWk83no

## Where to watch in Portugal

- SkyShowtime: streaming, hd
- Amazon Prime Video: rent €3.99, hd
- Apple TV: rent €3.99, hd
- Apple TV: buy €5.99, sd
- Amazon Prime Video: buy €5.99, sd

*Checked 2026-09-22.*

Also available in: AE, AR, AT, AU, BE, BG, BR, CA, CH, CL, CO, CZ, DE, DK, EC, EE, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, HK, HR, HU, ID, IE, IL, IT, JP, KR, LT, MX, NL, NO, NZ, PA, PE, PH, PL, PT, RO, RS, SE, SG, SI, SK, TH, TR, UA, US, VN, ZA. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country.

## If you liked this

- *Groundhog Day* (1993), Fi1m 88: The same gift, one town, one day, and every lesson properly earned — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/groundhog-day.md)
- *Truly, Madly, Deeply* (1990), Fi1m 80: Alan Rickman comes back from the dead and is annoying about the heating — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/truly-madly-deeply.md)
- *Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind* (2004), Fi1m 88: Memory rewritten for love, with the consequences this film declines to face — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/eternal-sunshine-of-the-spotless-mind.md)
- *Il Mare* (2000): Two people, one seaside house, letters passing across two years, and no cupboard
- *After Life* (1998): Kore-eda asks the dead to pick one memory to keep; quietly devastating

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/about-time