Timecrimes – Vinegar Syndrome (4k UHD/Blu-ray Combo)

Theatrical Release Date: Spain, 2007
Director: Nacho Vigalondo
Writer: Nacho Vigalondo
Cast: Karra Elejalde, Candela Fernández, Bárbara Goenaga, Nacho Vigalondo, Juan Inciarte

Release Date: December 2nd, 2025
Approximate Running Time: 92 Minutes 26 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Widescreen / 2160 Progressive / HEVC / H.265 / HDR10 Dolby Vision
Rating: R
Sound: DTS-HD 5.1 Spanish, DTS-HD 5.1 English
Subtitles: English, English SDH
Region Coding: Region Free (UHD), Region A (Blu-Ray)
Retail Price: $66.98

"Héctor (Karra Elejalde) lives with his wife Clara (Candela Fernández) in the peaceful Spanish countryside. One day, while relaxing in their backyard, Héctor spies a woman removing her clothes in a nearby forest via his binoculars. Once alone, he travels to her location to find the woman naked and presumably dead. He is attacked by an unknown, bandaged man, causing him to run further into the forest, where he stumbles upon a top-secret research facility, which happens to be home to a time machine. Upon meeting El Joven (played by director Nacho Vigalondo), a scientist in control of the facility and its machine, Héctor travels back in time one hour. Operating against El Joven’s wishes, Héctor leaves the facility, setting off a series of events with increasingly dark consequences." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 5/5 (4K UHD, Blu-ray)

Here’s the information provided about this release's transfer, "Newly scanned & restored in 4K from its 35mm original camera negative."

Timecrimes comes on a 66 GB dual layer 4K UHD.

Disc Size: 61.5 GB

Feature: 60.8 GB

The source looks excellent; flesh tones and colors look correct, and image clarity, contrast, black levels, and compression are solid.

Timecrimes comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 45.8 GB

Feature: 26.6  GB

This Blu-ray uses the same master that is used for the 4K UHD disc.

Audio: 5/5 (DTS-HD 5.1 Spanish), 4.5/5 (DTS-HD 5.1 English)

This release comes with two audio options, a DTS-HD 5.1 mix in Spanish and a DTS-HD 5.1 mix in English. Both audio tracks sound clear, balanced, and robust when they should. While the English-language track sounds better than expected for a dubbed track, the clear winner is the Spanish-language track. Included are removable English subtitles for the Spanish-language track and removable English SDH for the English-language track.

Extras:

Extras on the 4K UHD disc include an archival commentary track with director Nacho Vigalondo in Spanish with removable English subtitles, an audio commentary with Nacho Vigalondo moderated by Justin Laliberty, and an audio commentary with writer and podcaster Alexandra West.

Extras on the Blu-ray disc include an English-language trailer (1 minute 36 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo with text in English), an Spanish-language trailer (39 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Spanish with removable English subtitles), an Oscar®-nominated short film from 2003, directed by Nacho Vigalondo titled 7:35 de la mañana (7 minutes 46 seconds, 1.78:1 aspect ratio, Dolby Digital stereo Spanish with removable English subtitles), footage from the Timecrimes promotional internet game (32 minutes 49 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Spanish with removable English subtitles), archival cast & crew interviews (10 minutes 20 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Spanish with removable English subtitles), an archival featurette titled The Makeup of Timecrimes (5 minutes 52 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Spanish with removable English subtitles), an archival featurette titled The Making of Timecrimes (44 minutes 28 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Spanish with removable English subtitles), an interview with Nacho Vigalondo titled Bigger than Me (18 minutes 26 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), a video essay by film scholar Dr. Valeria Villegas Lindvall titled Rewind. Repeat. Revisit (13 minutes 1 second, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an alternate chronological edit of Timecrimes (68 minutes 45 seconds, 1.85:1 aspect ratio, Dolby Digital stereo Spanish with removable English subtitles), an archival commentary track with Nacho Vigalondo in Spanish with removable English subtitles, an audio commentary with Nacho Vigalondo and Justin Laliberty, and an audio commentary with Alexandra West.

Other extras include reversible cover art, a spot gloss hard slipcase + slipcover combo (limited to 7,000 units), and a 40-page perfect-bound book (limited to 7,000 units) with an essay titled Cosmic Fools and Pervert Detectives: The “Deep Crime logic” of Truecrimes written by Katie Rife, an essay titled Make it Make Sense: Temporal Mechanics and Logic in Truecrimes written by Charles Bramesco, and an essay titled Timecrimes and The Cosmic Horror of Time-Travel written by Mary Beth McAndrews.

Summary:

A man inadvertently travels back in time, and his encounters with himself trigger a sequence of events that result in multiple versions of himself.

Timecrimes is a crime/drama that cleverly employs sci-fi elements like time travel and cloning. The narrative unfolds like a time loop, where events have already occurred, but each iteration presents slight alterations. While the story presents the essential elements in a clear way, appearances can deceive.

Although all of the cast are excellent in their roles, it is ultimately Karra Elejalde (The Dead Mother) in the role of the protagonist, a man named Héctor, who carries this film. The story unfolds entirely from his perspective, and he delivers an outstanding performance as a character who is confused by the events occurring around him. Additionally, his performance shines in depicting how his character repeatedly fails to follow instructions, ultimately digging himself deeper into the abyss of his creation.

Timecrimes features an intriguing premise that effectively draws you in. Its narrative includes several well-placed twists that maintain suspense about the unfolding events. Another strength of the narrative is how effective it is when it comes to creating tense moments that build upon themselves. That said, while the visuals mostly sit back and let the story unfold, that is not to say that they do not create a tremendous amount of forbidding atmosphere. Ultimately, Timecrimes is a well-crafted film whose greatest asset is its simplicity.

Timecrimes gets a definitive release from Vinegar Syndrome. Highly recommended.

Note about the 4K screenshots: It is not possible to make Dolby Vision or HDR10 screenshots that faithfully match the experience of watching a film in motion on a TV. Instead of not having any screenshots, all of the 4K screenshots are m2ts taken with a MPC-HC player and lossless PNGs.

Written by Michael Den Boer