An unsung sci-fi sleeper hit fights back on streaming to force the hand of destiny

You’d have thought a slick and glossy sci-fi thriller boasting an intriguing concept adapted from one of the genre’s undoubted icons that boasted a star-studded cast, gained strong reviews from critics and fans, before recouping its budget two and a half times over at the box office would live long in the memory, but The Adjustment Bureau has long since been left behind by pop culture.

Writer and director George Nolfi’s hugely accomplished feature-length debut behind the camera roped in Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Anthony Mackie, John Slattery, Terence Stamp, Pedro Pascal, and plenty more to tell the story of Damon’s upwardly mobile politician literally trying to change his own fate so that he can be with Blunt’s dancer.

In the world of The Adjustment Bureau, though, Fate is a very physical and real thing, with a shadowy organization working in the shadows to ensure that everyone stays on their pre-selected path. Naturally, this doesn’t sit too well with our protagonists, who go on the run to try and see if they’ve got what it takes to defy the very laws of nature.

Based on Philip K. Dick’s short story Adjustment Team, there’s a lot to like about a fast-paced genre flick that offers plenty of spectacle to go along with its chin-stroking thematic subtext, while the ensemble are as reliably as you’d expect given their respective reputations and talents.

It’s been over a decade since The Adjustment Bureau came and went in a flash, but at-home audiences have decided that it’s worth their time. Per FlixPatrol, the unfairly forgotten gem has been riding a new wave of momentum on iTunes, which is the least it deserves.