Totally Killer introduces its own set of rules when it comes to time travel in the film. Although it is quite basic in the film, it brings major changes to the present.
In the film, Amelia, Jamie’s best friend, attempts to build a time machine in a photo booth using the designs once made by her mother, Lauren. Her time machine requires Wi-Fi to work so that it can sync with one’s mobile phone’s GPS.
Without Wi-Fi, the chrono-locator can’t make sure a person comes back to the same place. Jamie travels back to 1987, when the Sweet 16 Killer attacks her with a knife inside the time machine and accidentally stabs it on a panel.
How does time travel affect the present?
In 1987, Lauren explains that the time machine must have needed an extra metal conductor to work. Hence, the knife played its part in making time travel happen.
As it is October 27, 1987, and the Sweet 16 Killer hasn’t killed anyone, Jamie wonders what will happen if she stops the murders from happening.
Although there are many theories about time travel, Lauren explains the one she believes in the most. She compares time travel to a river that keeps flowing even if you come out of it and hop back in later.
Theoretically, it’s okay if Jamie changes everything for the better. All the things she changes will trickle downstream. However, she will have to be careful, as the changes she makes could also see her returning to a world that is nothing like it was.
For example, Jamie’s father, Blake, claims that he got together with Jamie’s mother, Pam, during college. He is glad that they didn’t start dating during high school because they were different and wouldn’t have ended up together.
Jamie sees why when she meets younger versions of Blake and Pam. Both are horny teenagers. Blake is dating Tiffany, and before the latter’s death, the rumor was that they were both constantly cheating on each other.
Jamie didn’t want Blake and Pam to date and just part ways like that, fearing that this would threaten her existence. Lauren assures Jamie that she won’t disappear or anything, but when she returns home, she will be someone her people won’t recognize if Pam and Blake never marry or have a child.
The Mandela Effect for the characters in the present
When Jamie is busy making changes in 1987, time keeps flowing in 2023, and the characters that are in the present face the Mandela Effect. Amelia points this out when Chris comes to her.
Chris, who has studied the Sweet 16 Killer for years, now learns that Tiffany was not murdered in the garage but in the bedroom. He doesn’t think he can forget a basic detail such as that.
The Mandela Effect is a psychological phenomenon where people remember things that didn’t happen. Due to Jamie’s presence in 1987 and the events that she is changing, all the characters in the present face the Mandela Effect.
Their memories of how the murders in 1987 happened are true, but the events have been altered now. Their memories are now false; they remember how things happened, but now, in reality, they happened differently. Hence, they have to accept the reality.
The world after Jamie’s return to 2023
When Jamie returns to 2023 after successfully killing the Sweet 16 Killer and the second Sweet 16 Killer, she comes a day before Halloween. Lauren had set this date on her time machine, considering that if they failed to stop the Sweet 16 Killer, at least Jamie would be able to save her mother.
Jamie comes back home to find her mother alive and well. However, due to the changes she made, her parents got together earlier. She now has a 34-year-old brother named Jamie, and her name is now Colette. Also, the fate of other characters has been affected a bit too.
Jamie continues to face the Mandela Effect, while the other characters now have altered memories about the events. Jamie now has to catch up on everything that has happened. Thanks to Lauren, as she has written down everything Jamie needs to know.
Also Read: Totally Killer summary and ending explained
