# Timer (film)
**TiMER** is a 2009 American science fiction romantic comedy written and directed by [Jac Schaeffer](https://www.edgepedia.org/jac-schaeffer), in which a wrist-implanted device counts down to the exact moment its wearer will meet their soulmate. [Emma Caulfield](https://www.edgepedia.org/emma-caulfield) stars as Oona O'Leary, an orthodontist whose TiMER stays blank because her destined match has not yet had an implant installed, and who falls for a younger grocery clerk, Mikey ([John Patrick Amedori](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-patrick-amedori)), whose own countdown shows only four months remaining.[1](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/timer) The film premiered at the 2009 Tribeca Festival and received a limited theatrical release in 2010.[2](https://tribecafilm.com/festival/archive/512cebb31c7d76e046001159-timer) • [3](https://www.wired.com/2010/04/review-timer/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Title / year | TiMER, 2009 (AFI Catalog lists it as a 2010 release)[2](https://tribecafilm.com/festival/archive/512cebb31c7d76e046001159-timer) • [4](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/66727-TIMER) |
| Writer / director | Jac Schaeffer, her debut feature[2](https://tribecafilm.com/festival/archive/512cebb31c7d76e046001159-timer) • [5](https://www.cinafilm.com/movies/timer-2009/critic-reviews/) |
| Premiere | World premiere, Discovery section, 2009 Tribeca Festival; 99 minutes[2](https://tribecafilm.com/festival/archive/512cebb31c7d76e046001159-timer) |
| Lead cast | Emma Caulfield (Oona), Michelle Borth (Steph), John Patrick Amedori (Mikey), Desmond Harrington (Dan the Man), JoBeth Williams, Kali Rocha (Matchmaker Patty)[4](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/66727-TIMER) • [6](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1179794/fullcredits) |
| Premise | A wrist implant counts down to the moment the wearer meets their soulmate; both partners must have one, and the device is sold as a paid service[1](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/timer) • [7](https://themotionpictures.net/2014/05/20/timer-2009/) |
| Reception | IMDb 6.4/10 (about 15,000 votes); Rotten Tomatoes 69% Tomatometer from 16 reviews, 62% audience score[8](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/timer) |
| Rating / runtime | R; 99 minutes at premiere, listed as 100 minutes on streaming platforms[2](https://tribecafilm.com/festival/archive/512cebb31c7d76e046001159-timer) • [1](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/timer) |
## Spoilers
### Premise and story
In the film's near-present world, a company called TiMER sells a biotechnological wrist implant that counts down to the day the wearer finds true love. The device can be fitted as early as puberty, is paid for with a monthly fee, and the company claims a 98% success rate after fifteen years in business.[7](https://themotionpictures.net/2014/05/20/timer-2009/) A countdown only starts when the wearer's destined partner also carries an implant, so a blank display means the soulmate has not yet been matched to the system.[1](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/timer)
Oona O'Leary, approaching thirty, has a blank TiMER. She dates a string of Timer-free boyfriends, takes each to the clinic to be implanted in the hope of a match, and breaks up with them when the devices do not sync.[7](https://themotionpictures.net/2014/05/20/timer-2009/) Her stepsister and roommate Steph ([Michelle Borth](https://www.edgepedia.org/michelle-borth)) is skeptical of the system: her countdown says she will not meet her match for more than a decade, until she is 43, and she fills the time with one-night stands with men whose timers are about to expire.[7](https://themotionpictures.net/2014/05/20/timer-2009/) • [9](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/timer/) Their teenage half-brother, fitted at the earliest eligible age, is set to meet his match within days of activation.[7](https://themotionpictures.net/2014/05/20/timer-2009/) • [3](https://www.wired.com/2010/04/review-timer/)
Oona then breaks her own rules and falls for Mikey, a supermarket clerk in his early twenties whose countdown shows four months left, meaning the relationship appears doomed before it begins.[1](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/timer) The Tribeca synopsis adds that everyone around Oona, including her mother, who left Oona's father because he was not her "one," is set on a fixed path to true love, and that the technology meant to simplify romance instead makes it messier.[2](https://tribecafilm.com/festival/archive/512cebb31c7d76e046001159-timer) The story raises the question of whether love can be felt or recognized if the romantic future is already fixed, and whether mystery is part of a life worth living.[9](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/timer/)
## Production and release
Schaeffer wrote, directed, and co-produced the film with Rikki Jarrett and Jennifer Glynn; the production companies were Capewatch Pictures and Truckbeef, and Present Pictures handled distribution.[4](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/66727-TIMER) Harris Charalambous was the director of photography, Peter Samet the editor, Andrew Kaiser composed the score, and Maya Sigel was production designer.[6](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1179794/fullcredits/) • [2](https://tribecafilm.com/festival/archive/512cebb31c7d76e046001159-timer)
TiMER had its world premiere in the Discovery section of the 2009 Tribeca Festival.[2](https://tribecafilm.com/festival/archive/512cebb31c7d76e046001159-timer) It opened in Los Angeles on April 30, 2010 and in New York on May 14, 2010, rated R.[3](https://www.wired.com/2010/04/review-timer/) The AFI Catalog records a 99-minute R-rated romantic comedy sourced to Los Angeles Times and New York Times listings of April and May 2010.[4](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/66727-TIMER) Streaming listings give a 100-minute runtime and note availability on Amazon Prime Video, Tubi, The Roku Channel, Plex, The CW, YouTube Free, Kanopy, and Hoopla, with rental and purchase options elsewhere.[1](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/timer)
## Reception
Critical response was mixed. Cinafilm's aggregation of nine professional reviews averages 58%, described as generally mixed.[5](https://www.cinafilm.com/movies/timer-2009/critic-reviews/) On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a 69% Tomatometer from 16 critics and a 62% audience score from more than 2,500 ratings.[8](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/timer)
Reviewers singled out the concept. Stephen Garrett, writing in Time Out, called it a "cyber-Cupid exercise" that is "surprisingly affecting" despite lukewarm female dialogue and simplistic male characters, awarding 3 of 5 stars.[10](https://www.timeout.com/movies/timer) Nick Schager in Slant Magazine judged the premise ridiculous and the message muddled, criticizing a finale "wracked by confusion," though he credited the early going and the performances for engagingly handling an outlandish scenario.[9](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/timer/) V.A. Musetto of the [New York Post](https://www.edgepedia.org/new-york-post) wrote that the film "never rises above the level of a sitcom," while Neil Genzlinger of the New York Times gave 3.5 of 5 stars, finding some plot twists easy to guess but the characters enjoyable.[8](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/timer) Scott Thill's WIRED review called the premise clever and the film alternately hilarious and overly melodramatic, noting that its self-referential melodrama and convenient happy ending partially avoid deeper technocultural criticism.[3](https://www.wired.com/2010/04/review-timer/) Later retrospective coverage has been warmer: a 2025 review in Tom's Guide described the film as a sharper story than its high-concept surface suggests, about how people behave when certainty can be bought.[11](https://www.tomsguide.com/entertainment/streaming/youve-probably-never-seen-this-overlooked-romantic-comedy-thats-streaming-for-free-right-now-and-it-doesnt-get-enough-praise)
## Themes
The film uses its gadget as a social parable rather than a hardware speculation. Critics have read it as a commentary on dating rituals, the rise of the iPhone, online dating, and the demand for a money-back guarantee in romance; the in-film marketing slogan "Soulmates with a Guarantee" carries its own footnote, "even a broken clock is right twice a day."[8](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/timer) The device's rules drive the plot's ironies: Steph's decade-long countdown, the blank display indicating a soulmate without a TiMER, and a mismatched pairing that thrusts two families together when Oona's younger brother turns out to be the match for the maid's daughter.[9](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/timer/) • [12](https://www.thefilmcatalogue.com/films/timer) A 2021 review in [The Stranger](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-stranger) called the premise fresh and the film an earnest, delightful romcom.[8](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/timer)
## References
1. [TiMER (2009) streaming, JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/timer)
2. [TiMER, 2009 Tribeca Festival archive](https://tribecafilm.com/festival/archive/512cebb31c7d76e046001159-timer)
3. [Review: Timer Ticks Down Love in the Time of TMI, WIRED (April 29, 2010)](https://www.wired.com/2010/04/review-timer/)
4. [TiMER (2010), AFI Catalog](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/66727-TIMER)
5. [TiMER (2009) Critic Reviews, Cinafilm](https://www.cinafilm.com/movies/timer-2009/critic-reviews/)
6. [Timer (2009) Full cast & crew, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1179794/fullcredits/)
7. [TiMER (2009) review, The Motion Pictures (May 20, 2014)](https://themotionpictures.net/2014/05/20/timer-2009/)
8. [TiMER, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/timer)
9. [Review: TiMER, Slant Magazine (May 11, 2010)](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/timer/)
10. [TiMER film review, Time Out](https://www.timeout.com/movies/timer)
11. [You've probably never seen this overlooked romantic comedy, Tom's Guide (2025)](https://www.tomsguide.com/entertainment/streaming/youve-probably-never-seen-this-overlooked-romantic-comedy-thats-streaming-for-free-right-now-and-it-doesnt-get-enough-praise)
12. [thefilmcatalogue.com](https://www.thefilmcatalogue.com/films/timer)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Science fiction and fantasy films (individual works) › Science fiction and fantasy films of the 2000s › Science fiction films of the 2000s*
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