Get Your Reps In: “12 Monkeys” Walks the Line of Sci-Fi Sanity

12 Monkeys (1995)

Amid a vast time-traveling conspiracy thriller—full of cataclysmic viruses and grizzly bears running loose through cities—a simple line about determinism stands out in 12 Monkeys. “I can’t believe that everything we do or say has already happened, that we can’t change what’s going to happen,” pleads psychiatrist Dr. Cassandra Railly (Madeleine Stowe) to her patient James Cole (Bruce Willis).

He’s trying to leave his “insanity” behind by belatedly insisting he invented an entire fantasy about humanity’s imminent demise from a worldwide plague. At this late stage in their movie-long mission to stop the virus, his doctor won’t have it. Railly’s sentiment is the core theme of Terry Gilliam’s science fiction epic. That is, how individuals interface with fate—or more specifically, with fate as a manifestation of power, hubris and history repeating itself. Do we simply invest in our powerlessness and, in turn, appear sane? Or do we insist on our ability to change the future and appear stark-raving mad, as Cole does? Mad enough to get locked in a mental institution with skinny Brad Pitt.

12 Monkeys screens at the Academy Theater Jan. 16–22, and, boy, will it not make you feel better about pretty much anything. But it’s a feast for thought.

Also Playing:

5th Avenue: The People’s Joker (2022), Jan. 16–18. Academy: Blade Runner: The Final Cut (1982), Starman (1984) and Flesh for Frankenstein (1973), Jan. 14 and 15. Repo Man (1984) and The Sword of Doom (1966), Jan. 16–22. Cinema 21: Shadow of a Doubt (1943), Jan. 17. Cinemagic: Fargo (1996), Jan. 14. Pedicab Driver (1989), Jan. 15. No Country for Old Men (2007), Jan. 14 and 19. Raising Arizona (1987), Jan. 18 and 19. Burn After Reading (2008), Jan. 20. Clinton: Andriesh (1954), Jan. 14. It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley (2025), Jan. 15. Singin’ in the Rain (1952) and The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), Jan. 17. Tár (2022), Jan. 20. The Alabama Solution (2025), Jan. 19. Cult Classics: Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), Jan. 18. Hollywood: Set It Off (1996), Jan. 14. The Harder They Come (1972), Jan. 17. Sing Street (2016), Jan. 17 and 18. Stalled Blooms (2025), Jan. 19. Fallguy (1962), Jan. 20. Tomorrow: Mistress Dispeller (2024), Jan. 15. Sinners (2025), Jan. 16. Good Boy (2025), Jan. 17. Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992), Jan. 18.