Directed by Colin Trevorrow, Safety Not Guaranteed is an indie sci-fi movie from 2012. The movie has warranted a lot of attention for its star-studded cast, which includes a few fan-favorite icons, such as Aubrey Plaza, Jake Johnson, Mark Duplass, and Karan Soni. Trevorrow’s comedy offers a welcome twist on the well-versed time-travel trope, making it an unmissable hit for any sci-fi fan.
With a run-time of just over 80 minutes, Safety Not Guaranteed takes audiences on a fast-paced adventure, crammed with plenty of twists and turns. Trevorrow’s innovative comedy constantly toys with audiences’ expectations, ultimately accumulating in a dramatic ending. The movie’s finale has divided viewers’ opinions, and there have been many interpretations of the movie’s ambiguous conclusion. What is Safety Not Guaranteed about, and how does it end?
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What Is Safety Not Guaranteed About?
Safety Not Guaranteed follows a group of journalists as they embark on an unexpected adventure. The movie begins with Jake Johnson’s character, Jeff Schwensen, discovering a bizarre advertisement in a newspaper, which reads:
“Wanted: Somebody to go back in time with me. This is not a joke. P.O. Box 91 Ocean View, WA 99393. You'll get paid after we get back. Must bring your own weapons. I have only done this once before. Safety not guaranteed”.
To track down the author of this unusual advertisement, Jeff picks a team to travel with him to Ocean View. He ultimately chooses two interns, Darius (Aubrey Plaza) and Arnau (Karan Soni), to assist him with the story. However, once the team arrives at Ocean View, it’s soon evident that Darius is much more committed to the investigation than Jeff, who has traveled to Ocean View with the sole intention of reviving a past romantic fling.
Remarkably, Darius manages to track down the eccentric time traveler, whose name is revealed to be Kenneth (Mark Duplass). In an attempt to uncover more information about this strange character, Darius is forced to hide her occupation as a journalist, and instead informs Kenneth that she wants to join him on his time traveling adventure. Ultimately, the pair form a genuine friendship, which progresses into a romance. Throughout the movie, it’s unclear whether Kenneth is actually a genuine time traveler, or whether the character is merely of unsound mind – a mystery which keeps audiences on the edge of their seats.
How Does Safety Not Guaranteed End?
As soon as audiences start to believe that Kenneth is telling the truth, a sudden twist towards the end of the movie certifies that he is not a genuine time traveler. Earlier in the movie, Kenneth revealed to Darius that he wanted to travel back in time to 2001, to save his girlfriend’s life after she was tragically killed by somebody crashing their car into her living room. In this emotional scene, Kenneth reveals that his late girlfriend, Belinda, is still the love of his life and that he feels tremendous guilt surrounding her death. However, Jeff ultimately discovers that Belinda is still alive and is living nearby, proving that Kenneth is not a time traveler at all. This is a tremendous shock to Darius, who trusted Kenneth.
When Darius goes to interview Belinda (Kristen Bell), she shockingly reveals that she never actually dated Kenneth. To complicate things even further, Belinda then reveals that it was Kenneth who had crashed a car into her living room, but fortunately nobody was injured. At this point, Darius has lost all faith in Kenneth being a genuine time traveler, prompting her to go and confront him.
When Darius tells Kenneth that Belinda is still alive, he is visibly confused but simply tells Darius that his time traveling mission must have been successful. To make matters worse, Kenneth discovers that Darius has been working as a journalist, invalidating the pair’s relationship. However, Kenneth is determined to prove that he is telling the truth, and tells Darius to meet him in the woods.
To wrap up their story, the team of journalists accompanies Darius to the woods, where they discover that Kenneth had managed to create his own version of a time machine. Kenneth questions whether Darius was simply making fun of him the whole time, but she tells him that their relationship was genuine and that the only thing she was lying about was being a journalist. Kenneth forgives Darius and holds out his hand for her to join him onboard the time machine. In an emotional scene, Kenneth tells Darius:
“The mission’s been updated. I’m going back for you now.”
This certifies that Kenneth is no longer going back in time for Belinda, but is instead going to rectify Darius’ regrets surrounding her mother’s death. Despite this scene’s emotion, there’s still a lot of uncertainty surrounding Kenneth’s character, but Darius confirms that she trusts him. Darius then starts up the machine, and to everyone’s amazement, the pair actually vanish.
The movie then cuts to a clip of Kenneth and Darius running through the woods together, with audio from Darius’ recording of Kenneth over the top. In the audio, Kenneth is questioning:
“But at the end of the day, do I need someone when I’m doubting myself, and I’m insecure, and my heart’s failing me? Do I need someone for when the heat gets hot, has my back?”
Darius then asks: “So, do you?” Kenneth confirms: “I do.” The movie then abruptly ends, and the credits begin rolling, leaving audiences in a state of confusion.
After audiences have ruled out the possibility of Kenneth being a time traveler, Colin Trevorrow ropes them back in, confirming that the ambiguous character has been telling the truth the whole time. Some audiences have dubbed this bizarre ending as a cop out, since it is never revealed whether Kenneth and Darius’ mission was successful. Meanwhile, others praise the movie for leaving this up for interpretation, which ultimately plays with viewers’ expectations.
In 2020, eight years after the release of Safety Not Guaranteed, Colin Trevorrow revealed that he had changed the movie’s ending at the last minute. Whilst attending Collider’s Directors on Directing panel for Comic-Con@Home, Trevorrow revealed that initially Kenneth's time machine was not going to work, but he went on divulge that this ending “just didn’t feel right.” In response to this gut instinct, Trevorrow ended up rewriting the movie’s conclusion. As a result, the movie’s entire meaning was fundamentally changed. Trevorrow has speculated that this alteration “might have changed the trajectory of my career.”
Besides Darius, Kenneth ultimately proved everybody wrong. The revelation that Kenneth is actually a time traveler creates an inspiring finale, encouraging viewers to believe in the unexpected and bizarre. It also motivates audiences to put their trust in others, rather than dismissing them. This is reflected via Kenneth’s final line of “I do”, which reflects on the positivity of putting your faith in others.
Some viewers have also suggested that this ending links to the movie’s overarching theme of regret. All the characters in Safety Not Guaranteed have regrets. Jeff feels regret over his past romantic relationship, whilst Arnau feels regret over not living his life to the fullest. Both Darius and Kenneth feel regret in relation to the deaths of their loved ones. By Kenneth deciding to go back in time for Darius rather than himself, Safety Not Guaranteed evokes that regret is a natural part of life, and it’s better to embark on an entirely new adventure as opposed to dwelling in the past. The movie’s ambiguous ending keeps people thinking about what they have just watched, which is a clear mark of a good story.
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