MUBI 2024 Retrospective is here. See our year.
12 Monkeys
7.8
/10
13,440 Ratings

Synopsis

In the 2030s, a man-made deadly virus has devastated most of Earth, and a convict is sent back in time to 1996 to collect information and help scientists develop a cure. But the medical community of the past won’t believe him and the only help he can get is from manic Jeffrey.

Our take

Inspired by Chris Marker’s avant-garde La Jetée, Terry Gilliam’s sci-fi mind trip unravels the fabric of time with ingenious temporal paradoxes. Unforgettable as a messiah from an apocalyptic future, Bruce Willis delivers a haunting warning of ecological destruction that rings startlingly prescient.