Volition (2020) Characters, Setting & Themes Explained

The story unfolds in contemporary urban settings, primarily centered on Jimmy's apartment and Elliot's laboratory. Elliot's lab serves as both a research space for time-travel development and a foster home where young Jimmy is cared for. These locations alternate as the time-travel plot evolves, creating a noir-ish urban atmosphere mixed with scientific mystery.

• setting
• locations
• urban
• city

The film primarily takes place in present day, following Jimmy's desperate attempts to change his fate. However, a significant portion of the narrative unfolds through flashbacks and time jumps to 1994, revealing the origin of the time-travel drug. This dual timeline creates parallel narratives that intersect as Jimmy revisits moments from his past.

• time period
• 1994
• present day
• flashbacks
• timeline

Elliot's laboratory is a quantum physics research facility where the time-travel drug is developed. It serves as the hub for time-travel experiments and acts as a foster home where young Jimmy (James Odin) is raised. The lab represents the intersection of scientific innovation and personal guardianship, with Elliot mentoring Jimmy through both his childhood and the consequences of changing the future.

• Elliot
• lab
• laboratory
• time travel
• drug
• research

The film explores whether the future is pre-written or can be altered through choice. Jimmy believes his fate may be predetermined, fueled by his clairvoyant premonitions, yet he desperately tries to change outcomes that threaten Angela's life. The constant shifting of timelines forces both Jimmy and the audience to reevaluate what it truly means to change one's fate, blending fatalism with the human impulse to fight for those we love.

• fate
• free will
• determinism
• choice
• predestination

Time travel is the central mechanic of the plot, allowing Jimmy to glimpse possible futures and physically move between timelines using a drug developed in Elliot's laboratory. Each jump reshapes events but exacts a physical and mental toll on Jimmy. The story uses this capability to explore how memory and foresight influence present decisions, with the time-travel drug serving as both a scientific innovation and a source of personal tragedy.

• time travel
• drug
• timeline
• jump
• memories

Angela (played by Magda Apanowicz) is the woman who captures Jimmy's heart and becomes central to his motivations. She is portrayed as intelligent and resourceful, drawn to Jimmy's chivalry and honesty even as she becomes entangled in the dangerous diamonds plot. Their relationship anchors the emotional core of the film, making each potential loss feel deeply personal and raising the stakes of Jimmy's time-travel missions.

• Angela
• love interest
• relationship
• emotional core

Jimmy is a reformed ex-criminal with clairvoyant gifts who uses his premonitions to bet on sports and navigate dangerous situations. He struggles with the belief that his future may be pre-written, which fuels both his caution and his desperation to alter outcomes that threaten Angela's life. His journey involves confronting a complex web of secrets while racing against time to change the fatal future he has foreseen.

• Jimmy
• protagonist
• clairvoyant
• ex-criminal
• premonitions

Elliot (played by Bill Marchant) is a quantum physicist who serves as Jimmy's foster father. He harbors the secret of the time-travel drug developed in his laboratory and guides Jimmy through the consequences of altering the future. His role bridges both Jimmy's childhood (as the foster home provider) and his adult struggles with time manipulation, making him a crucial mentor figure in the narrative.

• Elliot
• foster father
• quantum physicist
• mentor
• scientist

James Odin is the younger version of Jimmy, who is adopted into Elliot's care at the foster home. He represents the untapped past that adult Jimmy seeks to protect and understand. The character connects the dual timelines, as adult Jimmy revisits moments involving young James as part of his time-travel journey to alter fate.

• James
• young Jimmy
• foster home
• past
• self

Love and loss serve as the emotional anchors of the film. Angela's relationship with Jimmy forms the emotional core, making each potential loss feel devastating. The narrative explores how betrayals and violence test loyalty, revealing the fragility of trust in a world where futures can be rewritten. The climax hinges on whether love can survive a manipulated timeline, with Jimmy willing to sacrifice everything to save Angela from her predicted fate.

• love
• loss
• Angela
• relationship
• sacrifice
• trust

The film maintains a consistently tense and dark tone throughout, driven by the life-or-death premise and Jimmy's desperate chase to avoid his vision. The narrative is very complex, employing nonlinear storytelling and time-loop mechanics that demand close attention from viewers. The pacing is fast, with few moments of respite as the plot rapidly escalates from a simple deal to a convoluted struggle across time, resulting in a bittersweet resolution marked by sacrifice and mental fragmentation.

• tone
• style
• thriller
• tension
• nonlinear
• pacing