Back to the Future

1985, Robert Zemeckis, USA, 116 min.

Introduced by neuroscience researcher Chris Rose.

“Where we’re going we don’t need roads.” Eccentric scientist Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd) sends teenager Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) off in a souped-up DeLorean time machine back to 1955. There he inadvertently interferes with his future parents’ budding romance and risks erasing his existence. A generation on, this is still the best cinematic “what if” in the canon.

“A quintessential 1980s flick that combines science fiction, action, comedy, and romance all into a perfect little package that kids and adults will both devour.”

—Christopher Null

About Cabaret Cinema:Time

Curated by Rubin Museum fellow and neuroscientist David Eagleman, Cabaret Cinema delves into the mysteries of time. Aside from their listed duration, movies often carry us through periods far beyond the minutes that pass as we sit in a theater. Time lingers in suspense, is driven forward by fast-talking dialogue, or warps through sudden flashbacks. What does the world of cinema reveal about our experience of time?

Brainwave is supported in part by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.