
Time literally is money and life for people!
Time in the future of the In Time universe has become the literal and universal currency that human beings use for their day-to-day needs as well to live.
History[]
At some point in the future of human history, before the start of the film, human beings were genetically-engineered or modified to cease aging at twenty-five and have digital clocks on their left arms to show how much time they have on them and how long they have to live before their clocks reach zero. When people are born, they possess a clock that shows a year that will start once they reach their twenty-fifth year of life, after which they must either be wealthy (rich in time, that is), work for, borrow or steal more time just in order to live or acquire whatever it is they want or need. In a corrupt system, the people of Time Zones (the places they live) like New Greenwich hoard away the majority of their time for later use, while at the same time raising the cost of living for the poor people of Time Zones like Dayton to ensure that the people that live there die why they can live forever.
"For a few to be immortal, many must die." - Henry Hamilton.
It is this belief that causes the wealthy to raise the cost of living in poor Time Zones like Dayton, doing so in the belief that as long as they have more time than they need, they will live forever while making sure that the poor die due to the world not being able to support everyone if they all had more time to live.
Future[]
Will Salas and Sylvia Weis make numerous attempts to overthrow the corrupt system and ensure that everyone, rich and poor, have plenty of time to live long lives once Will is made aware by Henry Hamilton, a man from New Greenwich, that there is plenty of time for everyone.
Trivia[]
- In the film, it was revealed that when one dies of a means other than having timed out, such as being shot to death, whatever time the person had left on their clock at the time can not be accessed, having apparently "died" with the holder.
- In addition, it is unknown how time is responsible for keeping the body active.
- It is possible that time enables for all bodily function to continue so long as the person has time on their clock.
- It is never shown and it is unknown how time is made or when it replaced regular currency.
- However, as Henry stated that there’s more than enough time for everyone, time must be easy to produce for consumer use.
- Based on Raymon's use of his car to hold his time, it can be assumed that time can be transferred electronically between machines like digital currency.
- Also, Will had to pay for passage to New Greenwich using a similar method inside a different car.
- It is never explained or known if people under the age of twenty-five can have their year of time taken from them.