Safety Not Guaranteed Review

A mysterious ad in the personal columns of a local paper — from a man searching for a time-travelling soulmate — is the launching pad for this unusually obtuse indie rom-com. Rookie journalist Darius Britt (Aubrey Plaza) is hired to investigate its author, and the quest leads her to the eccentric Kenneth (Mark Duplass), a conspiracy theorist-cum-inventor-cum-grocery clerk. Kenneth is neither lovable nor especially scary, and, as with Plaza’s sullen heroine, there’s a realism here that plays nicely with the fantasy element. Is he just insane or a troubled genius? The film keeps us guessing, but the pair are so engaging it would pan out either way.