Warning: Time Cut spoilers ahead!
Netflix’s Time Cut takes viewers back to the days of velour tracksuits, polo shirts and Ugg boots: the year 2003.
Written and directed by Hannah MacPherson, the film takes place in Sweetly, Minn., and follows high schooler Lucy Field (Madison Bailey) who is transported back in time to 2003 — the year her sister, Summer Field (Antonia Gentry), was killed by the Sweetly Slasher.
Presented with the opportunity to save Summer and her friends, Lucy teams up with “physics genius” Quinn (Griffin Gluck) to change the past.
By the end of the film, Lucy learns that her presence in 2003 has altered far more than just her sister’s fate — and she’s faced with a future she never could have imagined.
Here’s everything to know about the unexpected twists at the end of Time Cut and who is behind the Sweetly Slasher mask.
What is Time Cut about?
At the beginning of Time Cut, viewers are introduced to Summer Field. It’s April 18, 2003, and three of her friends, Emmy (Megan Best), Val (Sydney Sabiston) and Brian (Kataem O’Connor), have already been slain by the Sweetly Slasher — a serial killer running amok in Sweetly, Minn. Still grieving, Summer decides to attend a high school party at a barn outside of town. It’s there that the Sweetly Slasher also murders her.
Fast forward to 2024, and the audience meets Lucy Field — the daughter Summer’s parents welcomed through IVF after she died. Lucy is desperate to get out of Sweetly, where the town is still haunted by the events of 2003, and she gets her wish when she stumbles upon a time machine in the very same barn where Summer was killed.
Lucy is transported to 2003 where she meets her sister and befriends Quinn — a fellow science nerd. After successfully convincing both of them that she’s from the future, the trio band together to stop the Sweetly Slasher from carrying out his killing spree.
What happens at the end of Time Cut?
After going through the time machine, Lucy arrives in 2003 on the day that the Sweetly Slasher kills his first two victims. She’s unable to save Emmy and Brian, who are slaughtered in the mall, but with the help of Summer and Quinn, they’re able to prevent the killer from getting his next victim: Val.
The following day, a curious Lucy speaks with Summer’s parents about their plans for the future. When she learns they don’t intend to welcome a second child, Lucy realizes that if her sister lives, she will likely cease to exist in 2024.
Lucy wavers on the idea of saving Summer, but ultimately, in the remaining minutes of Time Cut, she and Quinn intervene when the Sweetly Slasher attempts to kill Summer in the barn.
Who was the Sweetly Slasher in Time Cut?
While in the barn, Quinn, Summer and Lucy come face to face with the Sweetly Slasher, who removes his mask to reveal himself as Future Quinn.
They all end up back in Past Quinn’s garage, where the Slasher explains that in his timeline he was bullied by his high school peers and rejected by his crush, Summer. So, he devised a plan: kill Summer and all her closest friends and disappear through time.
To save Past Quinn and Summer, Lucy reboots the time machine and grabs the Sweetly Slasher — transporting them back to 2024. Lucy and Future Quinn get into a physical altercation, which ultimately ends with the killer’s death.
Does Summer survive in Time Cut?
Yes! Lucy and Quinn successfully save Summer from the Slasher and Lucy returns to 2024. However, while back in her time, Lucy discovers that her parents have no idea who she is.
In a shocking twist, Lucy returns to 2003 to be with her sister and Quinn, effectively nullifying the 2024 timeline. Considering the movie ends there, it’s unclear what happens next to Lucy. Bailey said she hoped that Summer’s parents would adopt her.
“We can hope that she’s like, ‘So I don’t have anywhere to go,’ and that these people are just so lovely that they take her in and keep her forever and ever,” the actress told Today in October 2024.
What other versions of the ending did the filmmakers consider?
Lucy returning to 2003 wasn’t the only ending MacPherson considered.
“There was a version that we all liked where everyone sort of ended up alive in the present day, which meant Summer was 43 and Lucy was 17, and it was essentially like she had lived and the parents still had a child,” the director shared with Today.
Ultimately, MacPherson felt that Lucy and Summer growing up together was more “satisfying.”
What have Antonia Gentry and Madison Bailey said about playing sisters in Time Cut?
Gentry and Bailey forged a genuine sisterhood on-screen and off while filming in Winnipeg, Canada. MacPherson told Today that it was “magical” to watch the duo’s “insane chemistry” on set.
While speaking to Screen Rant in October 2024, the actresses shared that they spent most of their downtime together.
“We played Mario cart and had wine and painting nights,” Gentry said. Bailey chimed in, adding that they also enjoyed a 2003 pastime: going to the mall.
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