Abe and Aaron are not just ungrounded from time, but are suffering an emotional detachment as well. At the fountain, Abe wonders why Aaron is willing to risk his life for Rachel. Aaron does not have the same feelings for his family or his own personal welfare as he use to have. Aaron thinks that since he feels and thinks differently, that he must even look differently. Living in the past is very trying. Aaron is living a lie, a deception to his friends and family. The primer universe is a fairly selfish place.
Living days over and over is bound to make life quite boring. Is Abe different in that he is more stable or just that he has not traveled as much as Aaron has? It is likely that Abe has spent so much time on ‘the thing’ that his relationship with Rachel has suffered, even deteriorated. She has a boyfriend at the party. "She practically begs for this to happen."
Abe seems different too. Just by living 36 hour days or traveling in time for several days with minimal amounts of food and sleep can impact your whole life in itself. When Abe and Aaron finally find out what the other has been up to, it pushes them apart in two different directions. This is the very nature of the box. It drew them together and it spit them out. Paranoia has also played a leading role in their distance from one another.
How much impact did it have on Carruth’s life? Years of work with no guaranteed reward. Even without the Sundance awards, I hope that the fans praise and interest would in itself be enough of a reward. I appreciate that Shane researched the science behind time travel rather than just writing down a bunch of mumbo jumbo, like ‘The Sound of Thunder’. We must then, examine the science behind ‘Primer’ as well.
