Nick of Time

Nick of Time (1995) is a near real-time thriller from John Badham that you can watch online on iFILM. The film's ninety minutes match ninety minutes in its hero's life, and every second is set against him.

Mild-mannered accountant Gene Watson (Johnny Depp) steps off a train in Los Angeles with his six-year-old daughter. Minutes later, two strangers take the girl and hand him an ultimatum: by 1:30 he must shoot the governor of California with the revolver they've supplied, or the child dies. He's watched from every angle, there's nowhere to run, and six rounds are already loaded. Christopher Walken plays the icy handler who never leaves his shoulder.

Badham pulls off a rare trick — the on-screen clock runs in lockstep with the audience, so the tension comes from the ticking, not from explosions. Depp isn't an action hero here, just an ordinary man backed into a corner. A tight, contained thriller for fans of countdown plots. Stream Nick of Time (1995) online on iFILM.