REVIEW: ‘Sixty Minutes’ Is Worth The Time

German-language Netflix Original Movie Sixty Minutes (60 Minuten) from writer/director Oliver Kienle and co-writer Philip Koch is an action-thriller. Taking place one night, MMA fighter Octavio Bergmann(Emilio Sakraya) is told under no uncertain circumstances by his ex that if he doesn’t make it to his daughter’s seventh birthday party in exactly one hour, he will never be allowed to see her again. He abandons an important fight at the last minute but, in doing so, makes instant enemies with all of the wrong people.

Sixty Minutes is quite creative and not overly sentimental. The sixty-minute timer and street map of Octa’s progress feel novel, even if this is surely not the first movie to use such a ploy. The movie maybe could have benefited from pretending it was taking place in real time a bit more. The timer starts almost exactly one hour before the end of the runtime and ends at about the right time (about a minute early). However, several times throughout the movie the clock gets noticeably out of sync with real life.

This wouldn’t be so noticeable if there weren’t so many scenes shot to deliberately feel like they’re long and unbroken for the sake of the time gimmick, only for the scene to be unceremoniously cut away to the next. Sixty Minutes didn’t need to fully employ a real-time trick to make it work, but it feels a bit rocky when these long, seamless parts are suddenly cut up and time stops being perfectly in sync.

While the acting in Sixty Minutes is not a movie to write home about, the characters manage to deliver the right mix of action with anger and desire. Octa just wants to get home to his daughter. It would sure be nice if he actually explained that to a single soul at an appropriate time throughout the movie, but then he wouldn’t be quite the silent but deadly protagonist he is.

It’s not like he’s overly wrapped up in machismo, though—a fatal trap the movie gladly avoids. He does have moments of vulnerability and has no problem expressing his love and appreciation for his friends and family. A “pep talk” from his dad midway through the movie could have been skipped, perhaps, since I’ve already forgotten everything the older man tried to yell into his son. But it’s nice to see Octa has a little more dimension than just being an angry dad who punches people.

And punch he sure does. The movie is filled to the brim with quite good action scenes. They get a bit repetitive towards the end, never introducing enough new elements once the third act begins to keep the fights fresh. But everyone on screen is highly adept at fighting and staging it for the camera. Octa’s friend and trainer, Cosima (Marie Mouroum), especially helps bring some dynamism to the screen every time she enters the fray. Some different uses of weapons or environmental factors would have helped the last fight feel like less of a slog, but some of the earlier ones, especially the 4v4 brawl, are quite entertaining.

Sixty Minutes is a movie that’s worth the time. It’s a creative take on the burgeoning dad genre and delivers as an action-thriller for the majority of its runtime. A few extra twists to some of the later fights would have kept it a bit more interesting all the way through, but it’s a satisfying blend of serious and heartfelt works, even if both sides are dulled a bit by middling acting.

Sixty Minutes is streaming on Netflix January 19th.