Tragic story behind the making of Netflix’s noughties time travel film Time Cut

While she doesn’t have an IMDB credit, Halyna Hutchins spent three weeks on set of the new Netflix film before her untimely death

Netflix’s new film Time Cut has a tragic link that many viewers may not be aware of.

The horror film released on the streaming platform follows the story of a high school student who is sent back in time to the year 2003. She realizes she is back before the murder of her sister and acts fast to try and stop the crime from happening again.

However, it was also one of the final projects Halyna Hutchins worked on before she died on the set of the film Rust.

While Hutchins is not credited on IMDB for the film, it has been reported that the cinematographer worked on set for the release for around three weeks during principal photography which took place between July and August 2021.

She would have worked alongside the director of photography Tony Mirza.

A report for CBC confirmed that Hutchins spent time in Winnipeg in the summer of 2021 to assist with the filming of Time Cut.

It goes on to say that she also worked closely with an assistant director who is the wife of Dave Brown, who is credited as the firearms safety expert on the film, for three weeks before going on to work on Rust.

At the time of her death, Brown, who says the Netflix film used unloaded guns during its filming said: “We’re sitting there, and all of a sudden we read the name and it was like, ‘Oh my God, we just worked with her two months ago.’

“We did exactly the same safety checks that we would normally do, showing the actors, showing every single person, on set safety briefings. The whole thing from beginning to end, which is why this whole story is so tragic, is the fact that, you know, it would have been impossible for something like that to happen here.”

Hutchins, 42, sadly died in October 2021, after a prop gun that contained a live round, held by Alec Baldwin, discharged while it was pointed at her.

She was the director of photography for the Western film and the incident happened during the rehearsal for a scene. The film’s director Joel Souza was also injured.

First assistant director David Halls pleaded guilty to negligent use of a deadly weapon, and received a suspended sentence and six months of probation.

Movie armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in March 2024 and sentenced to 18 months in prison.

In July 2024, the criminal case against Alec Baldwin on the same charge was dismissed after it was discovered that the prosecution withheld evidence from the defense. Hutchins’ widower and other relatives claimed they would seek civil litigation.

Time Cut is now available to stream on Netflix