Creating Social Science Fiction

New Zealand-born director Andrew Niccol’s new film In Time, out in the United States on 28 October, is set in a world where everyone’s biological clock stops at age 25. Here, time is the currency – the wealthy can live infinitely, while the poor must work for – or steal – enough minutes just to survive the day. Take a glance at Niccol’s body of work, and it becomes apparent that the filmmaker is interested in exploring otherworldly realities. The first movie he wrote and directed, 1997’s Gattaca, presented a society in which children are born with only their parents’ strongest hereditary trait – creating an environment in which people are judged by their gene pools. But Niccol, 47, insists he isn’t as transfixed by science fiction as his resume might suggest. “I never knew I was actually making science fiction, because it was always social science fiction. I was never so interested in the hardware. I was more interested in the humanity,” Niccol says.