There's little I love more in a sci-fi movie than a really cool setting, where the rules in place give the characters interesting situations to sort through. Such is the case for the 2011 sci-fi movie that just so happens to be streaming on Prime Video right now. The critics didn't love it, and the audience score isn't much better, but hear me out. While I wouldn't consider it one of the best sci-fi movies of all time, I do think In Time is absolutely worth a second look, especially if you have a Prime Video subscription. Bonus: It costs less than two hours to watch. (Image credit: 20th Century Fox)Written and Directed By: Andrew NiccolReleased: 2011Starring: Amanda Seyfried, Justin Timberlake, Cillian Murphy, and Vincent KartheiserAlso keep an eye out for: Olivia Wilde, Matt Bomer, Johnny Galecki, Ethan Peck and Alex PettyferTime Is Currency (And Currency Is Life)(Image credit: 20th Century Fox)In Time's story is set in the slightly distant future of 2169, where time is literally money. At the age of 25, people stop physically aging; however, a digital clock on their arm begins to count down from one year. If their clock gets to zero, they die instantly. A person can add more time to their clock at any time, either by transferring it directly from one hand/wrist to the other, or from a time-keeping device. Wages are earned in time, just as the price of everything is measured in time, rather than dollars. Society is also set up in tiered time zones. While the richest live for as long as they want in the fancy New Greenwich zone, the poorer people live on the other end of the time zone spectrum in the Dayton zone. Many are living literally day to day, trying to earn enough time to keep their clock going.A Time Windfall Sets Off The Action(Image credit: 20th Century Fox)Justin Timberlake plays Will, a guy living in the ghetto with his mother. They're both struggling to get by until an encounter with a very rich, suicidal man (Matt Bomer's character) shows up in his neighborhood and bestows an enormous amount of time onto Will before ending his own life. You'd think that a windfall might turn Will's situation around, but there's no way the Timekeepers (led by Cillian Murphy's Raymond Leon) are going to let that much time be transferred into the poorest time zone without investigation. I'm keeping this as spoiler-free as possible, so I'll just say that Will ends up on the run from the Timekeepers, as well as Philippe Weis (Vincent Kartheiser), the rich father of Sylvia (Amanda Seyfried), an heiress who gets caught up in the mess Will is in. I Know It's Not A Perfect Movie, But I Still Think It's UnderratedLook, I'm not exactly baffled that the movie didn't get amazing reviews. With 172 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, it's sitting at 35% rotten. The popcorn meter isn't much better, with 51%. Its IMDB rating is 6.7/10. While I agree that it falls short in some areas, In Time has a lot of really good things going for it -- Cillian Murphy's law-enforcing Timekeeper character, the time-stealing minutemen, the various time zones, the ways that time is used both to earn and to spend, the action, the cast, and more. I think for me, it's the setting that holds my attention and draws me back for the occasional rewatch. There are countless stories that focus on class systems and the mindset of the wealthy. In Time adds mortality to the equation by connecting currency with time, which connects to a person's life. In this setting, to be rich means living for as long as you want, but what does that really do to a person? The same goes for the people who are literally living day to day, waking up each morning not knowing with certainty if they'll be able to earn enough time to keep breathing (despite living in the body of a 25-year-old).Maybe In Time would've worked better as a TV show, where it would've had more time (heh) to really explore its setting and set up interesting characters and stories. Still, if you like a sci-fi story with a clever plot and lots of action, it's absolutely worth checking out, or maybe giving it a second chance if you wrote it off in the past. Catch it streaming on Prime Video.