Reviewing "11.22.63": An enthralling time-travel thriller

11.22.63 is a science-fiction thriller drama series starring James Franco, Sarah Gadon, George MacKay, and Daniel Webber, based on the novel of the same name by Stephen King. The story centers on Jake Epping (Franco), an English teacher who discovers a portal to the past, specifically to a day in 1960. His friend Al (Chris Cooper), who previously used the time portal multiple times and is now dying of cancer, tells Jake to go back to 1960 and attempt to stop the assassination of John F. Kennedy by Lee Harvey Oswald (Webber). This begins Jake's journey into the past, attempting to find out if Oswald had any assistance his scheme, and to ultimately stop him from carrying out the killing.

The story is suitably tense and thrilling, and while a lot of sequences seem to be utterly divorced from the main storyline of stopping the assassination and some drag on for a little too long, they serve as a fascinating exploration of the 60s, provide interesting side-plots for more thrills, and to allow the audience to care about the characters as the story gradually builds up to the climax. The burgeoning romance between Jake and 60s teacher Sadie (Gadon) also proves troublesome to Jake's mission, and Jake's begrudging accomplice, 60s kid Bill (MacKay), slowly grows resentful towards Jake for forbidding him from altering history too much.

An interesting plot point is how "the past pushes back". At various points throughout the series, whenever Jake attempts to make a change in the timeline, time itself would seem to fight against the change by causing accidents and incidents to impede Jake, occasionally veering into moments of supernatural horror, and even though nothing really seem to come of those moments, they do add a surreal touch to the time-travel proceedings.

The acting is very impressive. James Franco absolutely gives a riveting performance as Epping, perfectly showing his frustration, anxiety, anger, and desperation across a variety of situations. Sarah Gadon also acted very well, nailing her character's constant confusion with Jake's strange actions, as well as her later shown guile and strong convictions. George MacKay, of 1917 fame, also delivers a strong performance, with his youthful impulsiveness contrasting Jake's more calculated decisions.

The characters are very well-written. Even though the series is only a few episodes, you get a real sense of development from Jake, with his earlier bumbling attempts to fit in gradually giving way to expertly navigating life in the 60s, keeping secrets from those who he feels could jeopardize his mission, and becoming somewhat ruthless in his actions while still maintaining his integrity as a generally good person. Sadie is similarly given some good character development over time, showing herself to be someone who breaks the mould of what 60s women were expected to be like, and being willing to question some of Jake's decisions. Bill also goes from a confused 60s kid with a vendetta to a helpful ally to Jake, even as his responsibilities and Jake's insistence to keep his distance from Oswald gradually weighs on him. Lee Harvey Oswald is a well-written villain, being suitably chilling and quietly menacing, showing himself to be quite unhinged. However, Oswald's accent seems somewhat off, perhaps a slip-up by Webber, who is Australian, or perhaps a unique affect to highlight his character's insanity.

The opening credits are also very thematically relevant, consisting of various items to evoke the Kennedy assassination, such as his car, the rifle used by Oswald, and newspaper clippings of the event. There are an abundance of red strings, to signify the plot of attempting to "connect the dots" and uncover how Oswald was able to kill Kennedy, and the attempts by Jake to stop him.

11.22.63 is a well-written thriller about one man's quest to alter history, with good performances, well-developed characters, tense moments in the main plot and the various subplots, and an poignant emotional core to help ground the story.

Score: 8/10