A new Netflix movie has been released online for failing to capture the essence of 2003, with many claiming the film “doesn’t look or feel like” the year.
Sci-fi slasher Time Cut, which released on the streamer on October 30, follows teenage girl Lucy as she travels back to the early 2000s to stop a vicious killer from killing her sister.
A glimpse of the film was uploaded to Netflix’s official X account to tie in with the launch and featured protagonist Madison Bailey walking down a high school hallway and observing the supposed trends of the time.
As she walked through, the camera panned to students wearing Ugg boots and Heelys, while one chatted on a flip phone and the other held a Walkman as if it were a Blackberry.
Social media users were quick to criticize the style, with many calling out the inauthentic 2003 rendition, with one even going so far as to call for the stylists to be fired.
Time Cut has been blasted online for failing to capture the essence of 2003
In a sneak preview, a student held a Walkman as if it were a phone
To
Echoing a similar sentiment, another said: ‘I’m sorry, who owns this from 2003? Because it certainly wasn’t mine. Or many others based on the comments lol.’
A third added: “I was a senior in 2003… This looks and feels nothing like 2003.
“Fire everyone in your styling department,” a fourth snapped.
A fifth said: ‘Being in high school in 2003 I can tell you it looked NOTHING like this fake 2024 version they are selling you….
‘No gelled hair. Band T-shirts? Chuck Taylors? There are other things, but someone didn’t do their homework before making this…’
“Honestly this doesn’t feel like 2003, it feels like 2008,” wrote a sixth.
And it’s understandable why Time Cut feels out of touch with 2003.
Students were seen wearing Ugg boots in the hallways
While some continue skating in Heelys, a popular shoe with built-in wheels
Social media users were quick to criticize the style
Heelys were perhaps most popular in 2005 and 2006, when they achieved $44 million in sales revenue.
However, Ugg boots were popular in the early 2000s, with sales increasing from $121 million to $214 million in 2003.
In 2008 there were stores in London, Beijing and China, but its popularity waned in the 2010s.
Walkmans, meanwhile, began to lose popularity in the late 1990s and early 2000s thanks to the advent of MP3 players.
Apple launched its first iPod in 2001, iTunes came two years later in 2003.
Time Cut stars Outer Banks’ Madison Bailey as lead character Lucy, with Antonia Gentry, Michael Shanks and Griffin Gluck also in the cast.
At the time of writing, the film has a paltry 13 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.
Many called out the inauthentic portrayal of the 2003 film, with one even going so far as to call for the stylists to be fired.
In a recent interview with Comic Book, director Hannah Macpherson talked about trying to achieve the aesthetic of 2003.
“I think it helped that I was alive in the early 2000s and was a young person trying to figure out who I was,” she said.
‘I remember them very well, and it was so fun to revisit the music, the fashion and even the electronics.
“There was the authenticity of knowing the 2000s.”
She added to the release: “We had great department heads who did a lot of research.
“We’ve really destroyed ourselves, looking back at how much things have changed in 20 years.”