In the Blink of an Eye Tells Three Stories Across Time—One Was More Challenging Than the Rest

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Okay, so I just watched In the Blink of an Eye, the new film from Andrew Stanton – yes, the guy who brought us Finding Nemo – and it’s… different. It’s not your typical narrative. It feels almost like three separate stories, each set in a completely different time period – we’re talking Neanderthal times, the present day, and way, way into the future in space. What’s really interesting is how these seemingly unconnected stories actually weave together, exploring what it means to be human through these incredibly diverse lenses. It’s a really unique approach to storytelling, and it definitely sets this film apart.

The movie features Rashida Jones (from Parks and Recreation), Daveed Diggs (Hamilton), Kate McKinnon (SNL), and other talented actors. TopMob recently interviewed director Andrew Stanton and writer Colby Day (In the Blink of an Eye) who shared that the Neanderthal story was the most challenging part of the film to develop.

According to Stanton, people immediately thought of GEICO commercials or Fred Flintstone, which wasn’t the intention. The creative team wanted to portray these Neanderthals as equally intelligent as modern humans, hoping audiences would recognize their humanity and connect with them instantly.

Day pointed out that adapting a story from the page to the screen requires a complete reimagining. Even though he believed the story was straightforward to write, actually making it into a film or show proved to be a much more complex process.

TopMob recently interviewed stars Rashida Jones and Daveed Diggs, who play Claire and Greg in the new movie. They discussed the biggest challenges they faced during filming, and you can read the full interview below. “In the Blink of an Eye” will be available to stream on Hulu starting February 27, 2026.

The Hardest Timeline To Get Right for ‘In the Blink of an Eye’

“Everyone Either Picuted GEICO or Fred Flintstone…”

  • TopMob: “Out of those three story lines, which do you think was the hardest for you guys to just get right and really just pull off the way you wanted it?”

As a film fan, I always loved how Andrew Stanton approached the early humans in his work. He said everyone immediately thought of either the GEICO cavemen or Fred Flintstone when discussing them, and he understood why – there aren’t many truly believable depictions out there. He mentioned ‘2001’ as an exception, but he really envisioned them as a fragile, struggling species constantly fighting to survive. He didn’t want them to look like buff heroes; he believed they’d have the same intelligence and, crucially, the same humanity in their eyes that we see in each other today. He was really focused on casting actors who could convey that inherent humanity, and he’s proud they captured it – and honestly, I think they did a fantastic job.

When I was writing the story, the past seemed straightforward. I realized it was simply about trying to make it through. However, bringing it to life on screen – the process of adapting the writing for a visual medium – was a completely different challenge. Figuring out how to make the final product feel real and impactful was definitely difficult.

  • TopMob: “How did you want to form a connection between all three of these stories that are playing out in the movie, but still make them distinct and tell their own stories and not lean too much into, you know, that connection as it were?”

When I started thinking about the film, I immediately knew I wanted to explore the past, present, and future. A lot of the scriptwriting process involved finding compelling individual stories for each of those time periods. Then, the challenge became figuring out how to connect those stories and weave them together into a single, cohesive narrative.

It was definitely a challenge. Initially, my logical side wanted to create a neat, understandable story. But we realized the power came from focusing on the emotional experience of life – the unpredictable changes and the feeling of losing control. We all share similar life experiences eventually, which creates a common ground between everyone, even strangers. That overall feeling – that shared human experience – was what we aimed to capture in the film.

Rashida Jones & Daveed Diggs Reveal the Most Challenging Aspect of ‘In the Blink of an Eye’

The Passage of Time Was an Interesting Obstacle to Adapt to.

  • TopMob: “At any point during the process, you know, before filming started, during or after, what is the most surprising challenge you guys faced?”

For Daveed Diggs, the biggest challenge in any movie is keeping track of where his character is in the story and truthfully portraying how time has passed and how past choices have affected him. This was especially true for this particular film, as even a small part of the story covers a character’s entire life. Considering what his character has experienced just before each scene, the weight of those past events felt even more significant – it wasn’t about what happened yesterday, but about the last twenty years.

You know, one of the really interesting things about working on this project was showing the passage of time within a long-term relationship. We’d sometimes jump years forward – I remember one scene went from one New Year’s Eve to another five years later, and we were literally sitting in the same spot! The challenge, as an actor, was figuring out how to convey all that life that happened in between those jump cuts. It’s tricky because you’re coming back to the same set, maybe just changing clothes, and you need to make it feel real, like years have actually passed and the relationship has evolved. It’s about finding a way to make all that history viable and believable in a single scene.

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2026-02-26 21:06