Summary of the movie “About Time” by

Adrian Galicia Serrano

Tim Lake grows up in Cornwall in a house by the sea with his father James, mother
Mary, absent-minded uncle Desmond, and free-spirited sister Katherine or "Kit
Kat". At the age of 21, Tim learns from his father that the men of his family have
the secret ability to travel back in time, to moments they have lived before. In order
to time travel they must be in a dark space, clench their fists and visualize the
memory they wish to travel back to. James discourages his son from using his gift
to acquire money or fame, and Tim decides he will use it to improve his love life.
The following summer, Kit Kat's friend Charlotte visits. Tim is instantly smitten, but
waits until the end of her stay to tell her how he feels; she tells him that he should
have told her earlier. Tim travels back in time to tell Charlotte in the middle of the
holiday, but she says it would be better to wait until her last day. Heartbroken, Tim
realizes she is uninterested in him, and that time travel cannot change anyone’s
mind.
Tim moves to London to pursue a career as a lawyer, living with his father's
acquaintance, Harry, an angry misanthropic playwright. Tim visits a Dans le
Noir restaurant, where he meets Mary. They flirt in the darkness, and afterward,
Mary gives Tim her phone number. Tim returns home to find a distraught Harry,
whose opening night of new play has been ruined by an actor forgetting his lines.
Tim goes back in time to put things right, and the play is a triumph.
However, later, when Tim tries to call Mary, he discovers that by going back in time
to help Harry, the evening with Mary never occurred. He recalls Mary's obsession
with Kate Moss, and, through sheer persistence, finds Mary a week later at a Kate
Moss exhibition. Unfortunately, he discovers that she now has a boyfriend. Tim
finds out when and where they met (at a party). He turns up early, before the
potential boyfriend arrives, and persuades Mary to leave with him instead. Their
relationship develops, and Tim moves in with Mary. One night, he encounters
Charlotte who now seems interested in him, but Tim turns her down, realizing that
he is in love with Mary. He proposes; they marry and, fairly soon, have a daughter
they name Posy.
Kit Kat's difficulties in life and her drinking lead her to crash her car on Posy's first
birthday. As Kit Kat recovers, Tim decides to intervene in her life: he prevents the
crash and takes Kit Kat back in time to avert her unhappy relationship with Jimmy.
They manage to return to the present, where Tim finds Posy has never been born
and he has a son instead. James explains that they cannot change events prior to
their children's birth and ensure that exact child will still be conceived. Tim accepts
that he cannot change his sister’s life by changing her past; he allows the crash to
occur, ensuring Posy’s birth, and he and Mary help Kit Kat improve her own life.
She settles down with Tim’s friend Jay and has a child of her own. Tim and Mary
have another child, a baby boy.
Tim learns his father has terminal cancer that time travel cannot change. His father
has known for some time, but kept traveling back in time to effectively extend his
life and spend more time with his family. He tells Tim to live each day twice in order
to be truly happy: first, with all the everyday tensions and worries, but the second
time noticing how sweet the world can be. Tim follows this advice; his father dies,
but Tim travels to the past to visit whenever he misses him.
Mary tells Tim she wants a third child. He is reluctant because it means he will not
be able to visit his father again. Tim tells his father that he cannot visit any more,
and together they travel back to relive a fond memory from Tim's early childhood.
Mary gives birth to a baby girl, and Tim knows he can never see his father again.
Tim comes to realize that it is better to live each day once, and appreciate life with
his family as if he is living it for the second time.