Our perception of time is a construct of the brain. And like every good thought experiment, time, under the right circumstances, can be manipulated. It is one thing to understand this theory in concept, it is another thing to witness it in action.

DOPE is an innocent film that did something mischievous. It managed to successfully place the viewer in two alternate time-zones, the 90’s and present day, without adjusting our perceived reality. To do this, the movie leveraged the power of visuals and sound.

Visuals….

Dual existence: The visuals were an intelligent mix of things that “could” exist in both time-zones (Hairstyles, clothes, etc.) For example, part of the movie takes place in a computer lab that looks like it could have existed in the 90’s.

Minimize themes: To keep the viewer from fully committing to a single time-zone, the movie did not lose itself in a dominant theme from either period. While the movie starred a teen cast, there was a relatively small use of social media, texting, cell phone use, etc.

Neutral: The scenes did not date themselves and were shot in areas that had a timeless quality to them.

Sound….

No compromise: The soundtrack for the movie matched the flavor of 90’s music without compromising today’s sound.

Lost in sound: Although our world is very connected, in DOPE, we did not get lost in the technology, we go lost in the sound.

Why it’s relevant….

These techniques keep the viewer absorbed in the 90’s, even though we know we’re in present day. This plays into the overall theme of the movie, which sets-out to shatter “outdated” and misguided perceptions about different groups of people. Just as the lead character cuts his 90’s hairstyle in favor of something more “updated” in the end, this movie challenges us to address stereotypes that don’t support the truth of who we really are today.