The Adam Project

In a dystopian 2050, fighter pilot Adam Reed steals a time jet to escape to 2018 to save his wife, Laura, who was ordered by Sorian to be assassinated. During his escape, he is injured and crash-lands in 2022, where he encounters his 12-year-old self, who has been suspended after being bullied in school and is distant from his mother Ellie after the death of his father Louis Reed the previous year.

At first, Young Reed distrusts his future self but realizes he's telling the truth when 2050 Adam mentions his life and knows his dog. 2050 Adam decides to bring his younger self along to find Laura in 2018 once his injuries are healed. Both Adams are soon attacked by Maya Sorian, the leader of the dystopian world, and her assistant Christos. However, they are saved by Laura, who has faked her death and stayed off-grid in an unknown location via a gun and the plasmic MAG/CYL.

After briefly losing the pursuers, Laura and the Adams realize that after the invention of time travel by Louis and his subsequent death, Sorian has monopolized the discovery. They find Sorian frequently came and advised her 2018 self to secure her future wealth and power. Laura's hideout is discovered by Christos. Laura holds them off while the two Adams escape, sacrificing herself as she is vaporized by Sorian.

The Adams escape into 2018, where they visit Louis Reed and attempt to enlist his help, but he refuses out of concern for the effects on the time stream. Meanwhile, the 2050 Sorian warns her 2018 self about Adam.

The following day, the two Adams set off to destroy the particle accelerator located underground at Sorian Technologies. They come under attack by Sorian's soldiers waiting for them but are saved by Louis, who has changed his mind and agrees to guide them. He reveals that destroying the machine will not destroy time travel as long as Sorian has his algorithm with the math and constraints to control the process, so decides to destroy the memory unit instead.

Meanwhile, 2050 Sorian captures the younger Adam and holds him hostage as Louis and 2050 Adam remove an algorithm memory unit. 2050 Adam distracts Sorian and Christos enough for younger Adam to free himself, resulting in damage to the electromagnetic seal around the accelerator, which tears the facility apart.

The Reeds manage to take out Christos after a lengthy fight, but the older Sorian threatens to kill Louis, who remains adamant and refuses to hand over the memory unit. She shoots at Louis. However, the armor-piercing bullet is altered by the electromagnetic field and hits 2018 Sorian instead, killing her and hence wiping 2050 Sorian out of existence.

The Reeds barely manage to escape the facility's implosion and return home, where they reconcile by playing a game of catch before the Adams fade out and return to their respective time periods. In 2022, the younger Adam has not been suspended, has let go of his anger, and hugs his mother.

Sometime in the future, an older and much happier Adam meets Laura during a flight training lecture where she realizes, to Adam's amusement, that she has entered the wrong building on the campus. Adam offers to walk her to her building, stating that he has time, and they depart together.

• Ryan Reynolds as Adam Reed (2050), a time pilot who risks his life to try and uncover the truth behind his wife's disappearance.
  • Walker Scobell as 12-year-old Adam (2022), a bullied, asthmatic sixth grader suffering from depression due to his father dying from a car accident. Levy, Reynolds, their team of producers and casting director Carmen Cuba had auditioned hundreds of young actors before eventually landing on Scobell for his acting debut.^[3]
  • Isaiah Haegert as 8-year-old Adam (2018).
• Mark Ruffalo as Louis Reed, Adam's father and a brilliant quantum physicist who wrote the algorithm necessary for controlled time travel. Reed died in 2021 in a car accident, and Adam still suffers from depression.
• Jennifer Garner as Ellie Reed, Adam's mother. Garner also portrays her younger self in 2018.
• Catherine Keener as Maya Sorian, a businesswoman who funded Louis' research and later took advantage of his death to monopolize it for her own benefit and create a future where she is the most powerful woman in the world.
  • Keener also portrays her younger self through de-aging, with Lucie Guest as her body double.
• Zoe Saldaña as Laura Shane, Adam's wife and a fellow time pilot left stranded in 2018 after a failed attempt on her life. Saldaña also portrays her alternate version in the changed timeline.
• Alex Mallari Jr. as Christos, Adam and Laura's former colleague, now a ruthless security enforcer employed by Sorian.
• Ben Wilkinson as Derek, Ellie's new boyfriend with a mouth mullet.

The film began a limited theatrical release only on March 9, 2022, at 7:00PM Eastern Standard Time followed by its release on Netflix on March 11.^[11][12]