Movies that progress linearly have been pretty standard for a while, with even big names like The Shawshank Redemption or The Godfather having scenes occur in a chronological fashion (give or take a flashback here and there). However, despite there being an entire Seinfeld episode based around arbitrarily telling a story in reverse, the idea of a movie having its narrative unfold backwards hasn’t really caught on in a meaningful way. According to Variety, though, Netflix is going to give it a try with an original film called Shimmer Lake, a “crime thriller” that happens in reverse.
Variety says it’s about a “local sheriff’s quest to unlock the mystery of three small-town criminals and a bank heist gone wrong.” The movie will show each day of the investigation in reverse, presumably culminating in the heist itself so the viewer can see how it actually went down. Shimmer Lake will be the directorial debut of screen Oren Uziel, and it stars Rainn Wilson, Benjamin Walker, Stephanie Sigman, and Wyatt Russell.