The new Netflix Mexican release, Our Times, is just another time travel film, but the focus, thankfully, is not only on the specifics of time travel but on how the characters cope under vastly different societal expectations. It is more of a rom-com that incorporates social commentary and sci-fi elements. In 1966, Nora and Hector were physicists working at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. They were not only brilliant professors, they were also working on an experiment that they believed would change the course of scientific inventions related to time travel. They were under constant pressure to demonstrate their progress by the university authorities, especially since a lot of funding had been directed towards it. They had almost cracked it, and in the most unexpected moment, Nora figured out the final piece of the puzzle. The time machine was ready, and the couple was eager to find out if they’d succeeded. Did the experiment go as planned? Let’s find out.
Spoiler Alert
Where did Nora and Hector end up?
Nora and Hector wanted to travel only 15 minutes into the future, but they ended up traveling 59 years, and they arrived in 2025. Their analog meter had malfunctioned, and the transducer had been completely destroyed. They needed to find a replacement, and they knew they would find one at their university. They walked up to a local department store and were surprised to see the receptionist’s eyes fixed on a rectangular device. They assumed she had a hearing problem after they noticed the AirPods she had on. The receptionist later helped them with directions to the university, and Hector was overjoyed when the receptionist encouraged them to take the subway. He had only read about the government’s plan to build a subway in the 60s, so he thought he was extremely fortunate to actually travel on it. Nora and Hector deduced that the rectangular devices everyone was busy on were used to hypnotize the users (well, they were not completely wrong!).
They were stopped by the security guards when they tried to sneak into the university. They explained that they worked there, but their ID from the 60s didn’t help with their situation. Nora and Hector agreed that it was time to clearly state that they had time traveled, but the security guards scoffed at the remark. They informed the dean about the situation, and she surprisingly turned out to be the only person to believe them. The dean, Julia, used to be Nora’s student, and she was inspired by Nora to a great extent. She explained that when Nora and Hector went missing in the 60s, she had told the university authorities that they must have time traveled, but no one believed her. Julia had once followed Nora to her secret lab and witnessed the machine she and Hector had built. She agreed to provide them with complete support and financial assistance to repair their machine. She also decided to discuss the matter with a group of scientists working on time travel who could help them rebuild the machine. Julia was certain that this invention was about to bring about a paradigm shift, and she opened the doors of the university’s laboratory to Nora and Hector.
Why did Hector struggle to cope in the future?
Getting used to the modern way of life was not easy for Hector and Nora. They looked into how cell phones worked, and they were completely in awe of the innovation, and the internet was another invention that blew their minds. It was not just scientific inventions that left their jaws dropped, it was also how society evolved with time. Nora, strangely, had no idea what the word ‘patriarchy’ even meant when she first came across a graffiti art (feminism was not a foreign concept in Mexico during the 60s). As one of a handful of female professors working at the university, she had faced rampant sexism, but she never really took that into account. She just accepted it as the way society functioned, and she tried to maneuver her way around these constructs. Nora didn’t know how to react when she noticed women move around freely without a chaperone. She was also surprised by the kind of openly sexual conversations women engaged in, something she couldn’t imagine during her time. She didn’t know if it was right or wrong, but she couldn’t relate to it.
Nora often got into heated discussions with Alondra; she was her sister’s granddaughter who also had a keen interest in physics. Alondra tried to explain why women no longer consider marriage an obvious next step in their lives, while Nora argued that marriage was not something women necessarily had to run away from. She was happily married, and she believed in the lifelong commitment she had made to Hector. While Nora didn’t adopt all modern ideas, she didn’t completely disapprove of them. One day, she brought home sexual wellness products to try something new, but Hector was not happy about it. He didn’t like the idea of Nora entering a store and browsing through these products. Nora wanted him to broaden his horizons, but he simply couldn’t.
Hector gradually started to feel neglected, and he complained about Nora stealing his limelight. He didn’t hesitate to state that she was being celebrated more than him even though he considered his contribution to science more significant. Hector complained that he was treated as Nora’s assistant, and it had started to bother him. Nora was heartbroken when her husband belittled her contribution. She was all the more devastated when Hector accompanied her to a conference held on International Working Women’s Day and snatched the mic to explain concepts that he thought he knew better than Nora. She was embarrassed by his conduct, and he later left the room once he realized his presence was not being appreciated. The audience applauded Nora after her lecture, and it helped boost her confidence. All her life she’d craved Hector’s academic approval, but now she had come to realize that she could present ideas completely on her own and she didn’t ‘need’ a man to guide her. Not that she was not progressive during her days, but the people around her didn’t let her feel confident. Perhaps most of her ideas were dismissed because she was a woman, and now people enthusiastically listened to her theories and encouraged her to work on them. Nora started to feel more comfortable in 2025; there was no one stopping her, and she could contribute to her full potential, but Hector was not happy about it. A video went viral where Hector was seen complaining about the sorry state of men and harping the need to bring back the values that were in place during the 60s. This pushed Nora to the edge.
Why did Hector leave Nora behind?
Hector assumed that, whatever the circumstances, they would always choose to go back to their original timeline, but Nora didn’t agree with him. When she discovered that her sister, Rebeca, had died in a car accident during the time she was desperately searching for Nora or some answer that would help her solve Nora and Hector’s sudden disappearance, Nora blamed herself for Rebeca’s death. She believed that if she were alive, her sister wouldn’t have tried to find her, and she would have survived. But Rebeca’s daughter, Rebequita, begged to differ. She stated that even if she hadn’t died in a car accident, there is no guarantee that she would not die for some other reason. She had made peace with the idea that her mother was no more, and she didn’t want Nora to abandon the possibility of making scientific breakthroughs in 2025 just so that she could keep her sister alive. Also, they feared that if Nora returned to the 60s, it might affect their reality.
After much consideration, Nora decided to stay back. She realized that the social conditioning prevalent during the 60s would always limit her, and she had more chances of doing what she loved without any interference in the new world she’d been introduced to. Hector couldn’t believe her. He never thought there would come a time when Nora would make a choice that would not necessarily involve him. Hector decided to time travel alone, and his decision came as a surprise to Nora. She knew they were drifting apart, but she didn’t realize he would just leave. Hector left behind a note, appreciating Nora for all that she had achieved. After seeing Nora thrive in 2025, he had come to realize that she was meant for far greater things, and he refused to let his mindset hold her back from achieving excellence. He admitted that he was a man stuck in the past, and he thought it was important that he step aside and let her explore her potential to the fullest extent. He confessed that he would forever be in love with her, but time was not in their favor, and he had to leave.
Did Nora stay in the future?
Nora was devastated. She didn’t know how to navigate life without Hector by her side. But Julia promised her that everything would be alright. Even though they didn’t have the time machine, they had Nora, who knew exactly how to build another one. The wormhole would open once again after thirty years, and Julia encouraged Nora to live her best life during the time. And that was exactly what Nora did. Even though it pained her to live without Hector, she knew that from her career perspective, this was the best time to live in. Since she couldn’t go back to her lover, she decided to dedicate herself completely to the progress of science. She received countless awards and accolades—and she was eventually declared one of the most prominent women of the century.
During Our Times’ ending, we learn that thirty years had passed, and Nora finally travelled to 1996 to reunite with Hector. The film does not delve into how Hector going back in time affected the reality. Even if he managed to return without interrupting the flow of things, one cannot help but wonder if he made his invention public after his return. If he did so, it meant that humans from the 60s would have a solid idea of how time travel works, and that will possibly interfere with the contributions Nora made in 2025. Also, Rebeca must have confronted him upon his return but such complications are conveniently avoided in the film. Hector didn’t expect to come across Nora and was pleasantly surprised to see her. She explained that she had built a time travel machine during the last thirty years because she knew that after everything she would want to come home to Hector. Even though their differences kept them apart, love finally brought them back together. They knew that they loved each other, but at the same time, as individuals, they wished to live in the timelines where they could flourish professionally, and that was exactly what they did. In a way, they sacrificed love for the progress of science and ultimately used their knowledge to find a way back to each other. They had finally arrived at ‘their time’!
