The Time Machine

The primary setting is the 1970s, centered on a corporate-backed time machine project. Perry’s travels sweep back to 1692 Salem during the witch trials and forward to 1871 California during the Gold Rush. A leap into October 2025 shows a near-future world on the brink of environmental collapse, followed by a distant future where Eloi and Morlocks inhabit a restructured Earth.

The story begins in a 1970s Mega Corporation research lab near Los Angeles, a hub of cutting-edge science and defense-oriented projects. The setting contrasts high-tech ambition with corporate oversight, highlighting the environment where the time machine is developed. Time-travel journeys briefly plunge Perry into Salem (1692) and the California Gold Rush (1871), then leap to a distant future on a desolate Earth where Eloi and Morlocks emerge from humanity's past mistakes.

⏳ Time Ethics

Time travel here is framed as a tool with profound responsibilities. Perry’s backward-and-forward journeys reveal how altering events can ripple through eras, affecting people and civilizations. The film uses these shifts to ask whether science should advance without considering long-term consequences. Ultimately, the story exposes the ethical costs of wielding technology for power.

💼 Corporate Greed

Mega Corporation’s drive to weaponize science drives much of the conflict. The anti-matter bomb and relentless push for breakthroughs show how profit and control can trump global welfare. Boardroom dynamics reveal a willingness to sacrifice human outcomes for strategic advantages. The moral arc questions whether corporate interests should ever trump planetary survival.

🌍 Environmental Collapse

The narrative culminates in a world ravaged by humanity’s own technological ambitions. The future desert landscape, elevated radiation, and the underground-Morlock settlement illustrate a civilization that destroyed itself through exploitation. Perry’s post-apocalyptic witness underscores the stakes of neglecting environmental safeguards. The museum sequence ties past innovations to present destructions.

🧬 Evolution and Aftermath

The encounter with the Eloi and Morlocks frames human evolution as a consequence of long-term choices. Weena’s friendship and the Morlocks’ predation reflect a civilization unraveling into a segregated subsistence system. The story implies that current trajectories could seed radically different futures. It also casts Perry’s age as a hinge point for whether humanity returns to the surface.