Biggest Plot Hole


There's a few threads here about various plot holes in the film, (such as Sorority Kayleigh not remembering any abuse and Prostitute Kayleigh does remember it), but to me the plot hole that ruins the movie is that in the Sorority Kayleigh timeline Evan gets sent to a maximum security "slam your ass" federal penitentiary for the murder of Tommy.

There is simply NO WAY he could have been convicted of murder in what was so obviously a self-defense situation. Tommy had just been released from a psych ward, his fingerprints would have been all over the bat, Evan would have had huge bruises from where Tommy had hit him with the bat (assuming he didn't have broken bones), it would have been easily proven that Tommy was the one who smashed up Evan's car that same evening with the same bat, Kayleigh was a witness to the attack, and there were probably other witnesses off camera as well. On top of that Tommy was a known pscycho who had spent time in juvenile detention and mental institutions whereas Evan was a popular college student.

I'm willing to accept the premise of time-travel through journal entries, but the idea that any jury could convict Evan for murdering Tommy stretches my suspension of disbelief beyond the breaking point.

P.S. Before anyone says "He was there awaiting trial", they don't send you to that kind of prison when you're awaiting trial. What his mother was talking about when she visited him was an appeal of his conviction. When you're awaiting trial you're sent to jail, and Evan would surely have been released on bail before his trial. But lets face it, even the idea of him being charged with murder is far-fetched.

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You must have missed the premise of the movie completely! A butterfly flaps it's wings in Japan and a justice system is changed half way across the globe!

-FTFY-

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While I agree he likely wouldn't have been convicted, the film did make it a point to show Evan going berzerk on Tommy for all the crap he'd done before.

Specifically, he knocked Tommy down and maced him into submission, THEN kicked him and punched him multiple times before deliberately retrieving the bat and dealing the killing blow.

With an overzealous prosecutor and a bad defense lawyer, Evan could've been convicted on the theory that Tommy was, at that instant, helpless. It's a stretch, but not inconceivable enough to be a plot hole.

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It's really not that much of stretch. He would not be convicted of murder, but most likely manslaughter. So yes, he probably would not have gone to maximum security. Self-defense does not work when you are beating a defenseless person. If he would have stopped after he hit Tommy with the mace and then punched him a bunch of times, then no issue, easy self defense. But instead he grabbed a bat and smashed the guys face in and killed him after he was already subdued. Additionally, Kayleigh is a witness and could easily say Tommy was defenseless which does not help his case at all. It's kind of like the burglar that breaks into your house, who attacks you, but then flees. While the burglar is fleeing you retrieve a weapon and kill him. Your life is no longer threatened so deadly force is not permitted - depending on what state you live in I guess.

I just don't get why he couldn't still reach out to Kayleigh at the end? She probably doesn't remember what some kid said to her when she was 10. Seems

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The biggest plot hole is that Evan and Lenny burned the journals in the "final timeline" which started before Evan surprised his mother holding a knife. This is the event which lead to his mother seeking help and the doctor suggesting he write journals. The journals should not have existed anymore.

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But then again, threatening to kill a little girls "whole damn family" might have set that all into motion anyway.

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The plot hole I had issues with is when he slammed his hands down on those spikes and he woke up in the same position in the prison with new scars on his hand. There is no way his life would have stayed the same after that moment only to wake back up in the cell.

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Not only that, he would've had those scars from that point forward. It wouldn't have just appeared on him in the cell. He would be in a new timeline in which he always had scars on his hands. The cell mate would be like "Yeah those are the same scars you already had. So what."

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It's a time travel movie. Plot holes are a requirement.

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