Rewind (2013) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

Dr. Benjamin Rourke is a Nobel Prize-winning scientist whose research is connected to the bomb mechanism. Shaun Knox becomes obsessed with finding Rourke and his wife because he believes their connection holds the key to averting the disaster. The team ultimately plans to travel back in time to meet Rourke and use his scientific knowledge to unlock a way to prevent the catastrophic event.

Foreshadowing: Earlier scenes show the authorities suspecting a Nobel Prize figure may be involved in the conspiracy.

• dr benjamin rourke
• scientist
• bomb
• nobel prize
• shaun knox

The team at Sector 2 builds a time-window collider that creates a portal to different historical periods. Travelers ingest green pills that enable temporary passage through time. The device is unstable and can only maintain a window for a limited time before the timeline becomes fragile and creates dangerous ripple effects.

Foreshadowing: Early tests show unstable glimpses of 1934 England and 1929 Washington, confirming the technology works but is unpredictable.

• time travel
• collider
• machine
• pills
• timeline
• sector 2

Shaun becomes convinced that saving Rourke's wife is the key to saving New York. During his obsession in the military facility, he fixates on the connection between the scientist and his family, believing their fate is tied to the bomb threat. He argues that protecting her could protect the city, though others warn this could create unpredictable ripple effects throughout history.

Foreshadowing: The interrogation scene shows a wedding ring and questions about Mrs. Knox, hinting at personal motives behind the plot.

• shaun knox
• rourke wife
• save
• redemption
• family

The team travels back to multiple time periods including 1934 England and 1975 to alter events surrounding Dr. Rourke and his associates. In 1975, they encounter Sylvia and Ronald Marsden, with the mission involving a dangerous car chase and encounter with a bootleg driver. Their goal is to change enough events to prevent the bomb from ever being planted while accepting that small changes could cascade into wide-ranging consequences.

Foreshadowing: Priya emphasizes the fragile nature of their mission, warning that each participant bears the burden of potential self-sacrifice.

• time travel
• past
• changes
• 1975
• marsden
• mission

After the team successfully returns to the present and New York appears saved, Jess suddenly disappears and the world begins to change, signaling a destabilized timeline. The ending is ambiguous, while the immediate crisis is averted, the final scenes show the timeline has been altered in unexpected ways, leaving the future unstable.

Foreshadowing: Bryc warns about dangerous future uses of the machine before the timeline shifts.

• jess
• disappears
• timeline
• ending
• changes
• destabilized

In the original timeline, the bomb goes off in Midtown New York despite the authorities' efforts. The man in custody refuses to reveal the code, and despite the investigation threads through the city, the authorities cannot prevent the detonation. Shaun survives the blast but wakes up one month later in an altered, nightmare city, which drives his obsession with finding another way to prevent the disaster.

Foreshadowing: The opening scene establishes the countdown and the man who refuses to reveal the bomb code.

• bomb
• detonate
• explode
• countdown
• new york
• failure

The military leadership and team debate whether altering past events is ethical. General Webb and others warn that changing history could create dangerous ripple effects with unpredictable consequences. Shaun argues that saving millions of lives justifies the risk, while others contend that tampering with the timeline could cause even worse outcomes. The movie explores whether sacrificing parts of the past to protect the future is morally justified.

Foreshadowing: Charlie develops a program to model the consequences of altering Rourke's past, showing the stakes of their decisions.

• moral dilemma
• ethics
• history
• timeline
• consequences
• military

The mission detours to 1975 where the team encounters Sylvia, who is killed in a mugging, and Ronald Marsden, who is involved in a bank-style robbery. The team faces a difficult choice about whether halting Marsden's criminal arc could prevent future catastrophe. During their escape, they also encounter Jenny Marsden, who becomes an unintended consequence of their temporal interference.

Foreshadowing: Jenny Marsden appears in the present as a reminder of the human stakes and unintended consequences.

• 1975
• sylvia
• ronald marsden
• jenny
• mugging
• robbery

After surviving the bomb blast in Midtown New York, Shaun wakes up one month later in an altered city and is confined in a military high-security building. Ellis, a security official, pressures Shaun to explain what happened and what he knows about the catastrophe. Shaun remains fixated on Dr. Rourke and his wife, convinced their connection holds the key to salvation. A top-secret 48-hour furlough order is eventually issued to authorize further investigation.

Foreshadowing: The opening establishes Shaun as someone whose every move is shadowed by the possibility of the scientist's involvement.

• shaun knox
• imprisoned
• military
• custody
• ellis
• fallout

The white van in Midtown New York contains a nuclear threat with catastrophic potential, threatening nine million people and triggering nationwide panic. It serves as the central tension of the movie, the authorities know a bomb exists but cannot decode its location or deactivate it in time. The van and its contents drive the entire narrative, from the initial investigation to the desperate time travel mission.

Foreshadowing: The countdown around the van establishes the urgency that propels all subsequent events.

• white van
• bomb
• nuclear
• midtown
• threat
• countdown