Primer Explained for Cinephiles | Easier Than It Seems

Primer explained

• Monday morning.
  • Abe tells Original Aaron about the boxes. They spend the day together, discussing. Rachel calls Abe. We don’t hear it but he probably mentions Robert’s party. But instead of attending, Abe and Aaron have dinner at Aaron’s house. We can assume they built Aaron’s box.  
• Tuesday.
  • The two time travel.
• Wednesday.
  • Original Aaron finds Abe’s failsafe and goes back in time and becomes Second Aaron. This creates a new timeline. 
• Monday morning (new timeline).
  • Second Aaron drugs Original Aaron and hides the body in the attic. He starts recording conversations. 
• Monday night.
  • At Robert’s birthday party, Rachel’s ex-boyfriend pulls a shotgun. Second Aaron stops him.
• Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday occur as shown in the movie.
• Sometime Friday or within a few days after.
  • Rachel Granger’s ex-boyfriend kills or severely injures her.
    • Proof: Near the end of the movie, before the party, Abe suggests not telling Rachel about the party, but Third Aaron quickly counters: “That’s good for tonight. What about tomorrow? And every other day? This guy is crazy enough to walk into a room of people waving a shotgun around. What do you think he’ll do if he ever finds her alone? I mean, this way, we know exactly what happens. We have complete control over it. At the end of the night, this guy is arrested and goes to jai.” Abe hesitates. Third Aaron says: “Don’t tell me I came back and did this for nothing.” 
    • If all that ever happened was the guy threatened Rachel at the party on Monday, there’s no reason for Aaron to feel like he has to do this. That implies there is a reason—Rachel’s long-term safety (maybe even Abe’s as well?). It would also explain why her father comes back later in the week and not before or closer to the party. 
  • Devastated, Abe tells Rachel’s father about the boxes. Thomas travels back, at least 2-3 days, to try and save Rachel. This creates a new timeline that starts the moment Abe and Second Aaron encounter Thomas Granger.  
• The Thomas Granger Incident
  • 2:00 a.m., Friday morning, Abe and Second Aaron plan to punch Joseph Platts in the face. Thomas Granger appears but collapses sometime between Second Aaron confronting him and Abe arriving on the scene. This is due to “recursion”.
    • Carruth: “This isn’t really addressed in the film, but the reason Granger is unconscious is because he’s suffering from recursion. What I think happened is that Abe told Granger about the machine. This man who’s been told by Abe about the machine uses the machine to come back and somehow has an interaction with Abe so that now Abe probably won’t tell him about the machine and yet he still finds himself there. Without coming out and saying it, the film is built on the idea that these paradoxes are a way to understand things. The universe is not going to explode or break down if you create a paradox. Whatever’s going to break is probably going to be you.” 
  • Both Second Aaron and Abe say they can’t imagine why either would tell Rachel’s dad about the machine. Then Abe says, “What if it was an emergency?” And Aaron says, “So you’d do it if it was an emergency?” Abe: “No, I don’t know. What, so you might, then?” Aaron: “I don’t know. What kind of emergency?” (Major breadcrumb). 
  • Both Abe and Second Aaron decide, independently, without informing the other, to use their respective failsafes to change events. Abe wants to stop anyone from ever time traveling. Aaron’s motivation is vague. It’s possible Second Aaron had a quick conversation with Granger before the recursion hit, so knows something happened to Rachel, but doesn’t want to tell Abe. More likely, he puts two and two together and concludes a tragedy befalls Rachel (and maybe even Abe). Either way, Second Abe’s primary objective becomes finding a long-term solution for the shotgun-loving ex. 
  • This creates a new timeline. Abe becomes Second Abe. And Second Aaron becomes Third Aaron. 
• Back on Monday morning (new timeline).
  • Second Abe knocks out Original Abe and stuffs him in the attic. Right after, Third Aaron confronts Second Aaron. Third loses the fight but “simply wanted it more” so Second leaves. 
• Rest of Monday.
  • Third Aaron tries to solve the Rachel dilemma. Eventually, he figures it out.
    • Second Aaron: “I can tell you with certainty what I did that night, when it was my turn. But I think it would do little good, because what the world remembers, the actuality, the last revision, is what counts, apparently. So how many times did it take Aaron, as he cycled through the same conversations, lip-synching trivia over and over. How many times would it take before he got it right? Three? Four? Twenty? 
    • “I’ve decided to believe that only one more would have done it. I can almost sleep at night if there is only one more. Slowly and methodically, he reverse-engineered a perfect moment. He took from his surroundings what was needed and made of it something more. And once the details had been successfully navigated, there would be nothing left to do but wait for the conflict. Maybe the obligatory last-minute moral debate, until the noise of the room escalates into panic and background screams, as the gunman walks in. And, eventually, he must have got it perfect and it must have been beautiful, with all the praise and adoration he had coming. He had probably saved lives, after all. Who knows what would have happened if he hadn’t been there?”
    • The last line of dialogue is important. Superficially speaking, it’s just the narrator making an assumption. But, really, it’s Shane Carruth telling the viewer that, “Hey, if Aaron hadn’t done this, someone dies.” It’s another breadcrumb. On its own, it doesn’t add much, but connected to Third Aaron’s concern for what happens to Rachel after the party, and Rachael’s dad time-traveling, and the dialogue about telling someone if it was an emergency—it feels like pieces of a puzzle that fit together. 
• Sometime Tuesday.
  • Third Aaron and Second Abe have a final conversation at the airport. Abe says he’s going to serve as a guardian over Original Abe and Original Aaron, making sure they never invent the box and move on to something else. Abe also wants to stop the other two Aarons from interfering with the Original, Kara, and Lauren. Third Aaron just wants to make some money, get out of there, and travel. 
  • As this conversation happens, Original Abe finally recovers from Second Abe gassing him. And Original Aaron manages to exit the attic. Those two will continue as the primary versions of themselves, none the wiser about what’s transpired. Though you can imagine Aaron might have some serious psychological damage about how he ended up unconscious in the attic. 
• Unknown.
  • Second Aaron, who has been narrating, concludes his message to a mystery receiver. It could be to the Originals. It could be to Thomas Granger or Rachel or someone never seen. All we know is that he says, “Now I have repaid any debt I may have owed you.” 
  • Second Aaron’s in a facility where a team builds something rather large. The safe assumption is another box, one big enough to allow for more resources and thus survive for a longer period of time. 

Now that we’ve untangled the timelines, let’s turn our attention to what it represents. 

The main themes and symbolism of Primer

I feel like I say this in every thematic explanation, but it bears repeating: you can easily understand the gist of almost every movie by contrasting where the protagonist(s) begin(s) versus where they end. Even a movie that’s as ridiculous as Primer. What do we see?

Beginning: Aaron, Abe, Robert, and Phillip are part of an entrepreneurial cohort that, while once united, has grown divisive. Robert and Phillip aren’t on the same page as Aaron and Abe. The quad softly fractures, leaving Aaron and Abe united. They’re true friends who will carry on together. 

Ending: Third Aaron and Second Abe don’t like each other. The final conversation starts with Aaron acknowledging they’re upset with one another and in a disagreement. Despite that, Aaron still thinks they can salvage their friendship by leaving town together. Abe says no because he feels responsible for looking after everyone. While Aaron wants to embrace his freedom. The two go their separate ways.

Everything with the boxes and time travel and the party and all the insane plot mechanics are nothing more than a method of showing the dissolution of this friendship. They embark on a project that demands tremendous trust. Then continuously break that trust. And it ruins the relationship. It’s as simple as that. The middle portion could have been anything. A business deal. A road trip. A recreational softball league. Discovering aliens. Battling gremlins. Stuck in a cabin during a blizzard. Carruth went with time travel. 

There is a bit more nuance. For example, forget for a second that Third Aaron has no claim to his wife and daughter because he has invaded a timeline that has its own Original Aaron. They don’t need him because they already have him. That’s story-level thinking. On the theme-level, there’s only one Aaron. Through that lens, the ending represents Aaron having other priorities than his family. Which is what we saw at the beginning of the film. He had already turned their garage into this workshop and spent much of his homelife still focused on work. He had purchased a new fridge because he probably had already used the previous one for parts, just like we see him try to use Abe’s fridge for parts. We never see him spend quality time with Kara or Lauren. He’s visible but not present. At least not for them. Like when the cat goes missing. He goes and looks for it, not because he actually cares, but because “it’s what you do.” 

The cat conversation is actually another great example of the difference between story and theme. Story-level, Second Aaron doesn’t care about the cat because this isn’t his timeline. It’s also why he so willingly risked his life to stop Rachel’s ex-boyfriend at the party. Abe doesn’t know this, so, while looking for the cat, chastises Aaron. “If it was just you you had to worry about, I’d still think you’re stupid. But you have a family now.”

On the theme-level, there is only one Aaron. Second Aaron represents this developing selfishness that grows more intense as the story progresses. Aaron isn’t putting his family first, anymore. He searches for the cat because Kara and Lauren worry about the cat. But he isn’t trying, he doesn’t care. He’s merely going through the motions, as needed. It’s the first sign of his disconnect. 

And Abe is the foil for that. Think back to when the two first feel they’re onto something with the box. Aaron immediately puts a lock on the garage and moves to omit Robert and Phillip. It’s not like Abe wants to include them, but he has a sense of it being unfair. “I mean, they have their work in there, too.” Abe’s the one trying to follow rules and do things the right way. While Aaron is the wildcard. Abe feels a sense of responsibility and obligation that Aaron, at the end, does not. Which is why the two part. They no longer share the same values—Aaron chooses ambition, while Abe chooses responsibility. 

Think Don Draper in Mad Men. His life is divided. He presents himself as the prototypical 1960s husband and father. But it’s a facade. Most of his time is spent at work, on affairs, and/or avoiding unprocessed trauma. Metaphorically, there are two Don Drapers. The tension of the show comes from his struggle to exist as both and the consequences of that conflict. That’s the realistic version of what the three Aarons represent in Primer. Original Aaron, who will remain oblivious to time travel and be around for his wife and daughter, is Don keeping up appearances. While the other Aarons are where his heart and mind truly lie—on work, money, achievement, etc. It’s what we call “defamiliarization”. You take something grounded and realistic but present it in a way that feels unfamiliar and is often unrealistic. Defamiliarization is the heart of genres like sci-fi, horror, and fantasy, as it allows them to explore universal themes through extraordinary circumstances.  

To recap. Thematically, Primer is very simple. Two friends grow apart due to a loss of trust and differing morals because one becomes a workaholic and a jerk.    

A last note on plot holes in Primer

If you have issues with my theory leave a comment and we can discuss! I actually have one of my own: Second Aaron’s narration. Specifically: I can tell you with certainty what I did that night, when it was my turn. But I think it would do little good, because what the world remembers, the actuality, the last revision, is what counts, apparently.  

The Aaron at the end of the movie, in the airport, who I, and others, identify as Third Aaron, is actually the true original Aaron. He’s the only one who experiences everything that we see in the movie. When he uses the failsafe the first time, we call him Second Aaron because he’s “added” to the new timeline. But he is still Aaron Prime. And when he uses the failsafe a second time, after the Thomas Granger Incident, we call him Third Aaron because he’s, once again, an addition. The one we call Original Aaron refers to who would be considered natural to that timeline. That’s who gets put in the attic. Likewise, even though Third Aaron was Second Aaron, the final Second Aaron, Narrator Aaron, refers to that version of him that never experienced the third timeline. And that’s the problem. 

Third Aaron shows up right after Second Aaron drugs Original Aaron. Which is why Second Aaron, during his narration says, “And that’s where I would have entered the story. Or exited, depending on your reference.” What he means is that he didn’t get to play a role because Third Aaron, Second Aaron from the future, appears and asks Second Aaron to leave. So he does. 

How, then, if Second Aaron left Monday morning, did he ever have a turn at confronting Rachel’s ex-boyfriend at the party? “I can tell you with certainty what I did that night, when it was my turn.” That implies he experienced the party, had an interaction with the ex-boyfriend, etc. But, how, if he already exited the story? 

The only way he could tell us “with certainty what I did that night” is if Third Aaron told him. But the dialogue doesn’t convey that. Quote: “For reasons that are only evident to me now, I understood that he simply wanted it more. That he just had more invested. So I left.” That’s very different from saying something like, “He told me about what happened next and what he needed to do. I understood. So I left.” Second Aaron is quite clear when he says the reasons “are only evident to me now.” Meaning at the time he didn’t know what Third Aaron’s motivation was, just that “he simply wanted it more” and was “more invested”. 

At best, this is a logic gap. In which case, someone might have a better theory as to how Narrator Second Aaron experienced something that is logistically impossible for him to have experienced. At worst, it’s a plot hole. Which, in the grand scheme of plot holes, is pretty minor. But at least worth noting. Maybe it’s more of a flaw with my theory than the movie? I wanted to bring it up for the sake of discussion.