Published Jun 5, 2026, 12:06 PM EDT
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Carolyn Jenkins is a voracious consumer of film and television. She graduated from Long Island University with an MFA in Screenwriting and Producing where she learned the art of character, plot, and structure. The best teacher is absorbing media and she spends her time reading about different worlds from teen angst to the universe of Stephen King.
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Threading the needle in a time travel story is never easy. Rules have to be established, like in Back to the Future, or be incredibly intricate, like Netflix’s best series, Dark. As delicate as this balance is, somehow, the best sci-fi sleeper hit of the year accomplishes this, and then some. Hulu’s Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice operates mostly as a gangster film, but that is the beauty of it. From the opening moments of the feature, the tone and stakes are established before getting into the nitty-gritty of time travel.
The sci-fi thriller follows Mike (James Marsden) on the inevitable path many gangsters come to. Fatigued by his life of violence, he wants to retire and run away with his best friend’s wife, Alice (Eiza González). The only kink in this plan is that said best friend, Nick (Vince Vaughn), found out about this and had him set up as a snitch. This setup would be intriguing in any gangster story, but Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice balances genre spectacularly in a narrative that is part action, part sci-fi, and part outrageous comedy.
Whenever a feature is dumped on a streaming service, it will likely disappear unceremoniously. Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice dropped on Hulu in March without so much as a warning, but missing out on this comedy would be a mistake. The tone immediately immerses viewers in the understanding that this isn’t just like any other time travel movie. This is ridiculous fun in the best way possible.
Your answers point to the iconic sci-fi hero who shares your instincts, your values, and your particular way of facing the impossible.
You carry a weight most people would crumble under — the knowledge of what you’re capable of, and the burden of what you might have to become.
You lead with instinct, warmth, and an absolute refusal to accept a no-win scenario — because you’ve always believed there’s a third option nobody else has thought of yet.
You are the kind of person who holds the line when everyone else is losing faith — not because you’re fearless, but because giving up simply isn’t something you’re capable of.
You are not reckless, not grandiose, and not particularly interested in being anyone’s hero — you just refuse to stop when it matters.
You have been through fire that would break most people — and what came out the other side is something the world underestimates at its peril.
Nick, Alice, and Mike seem to be in a fairly standard love triangle, but after those stakes are set up, the story really gets cooking. Mike’s fears of his relationship with Alice being revealed are quickly supplanted when Nick reveals that his best friend has been set up, and this is the night that he dies. This plot point is revealed in hilarious fashion when Nick instructs Mike to knock out someone for him: Himself. As it turns out, this Nick is from the future, and they have to make sure that Present Nick doesn’t get in the way of them ensuring that Mike survives the night.
Romantic machinations take a backseat to typical time travel humor — as well a classic Gilmore Girls debate. From then on, it’s a mad dash of action and comedy as the four of them band together to take out a whole host of gangsters out for blood. With supporting roles from Keith David and Stephen Root, Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice makes no question of what type of story this is.
This is a movie made to be seen on the big screen, even though it tragically wasn’t. Fans who come for the sci-fi should be surprised and pleased by the laugh-out-loud moments. Perhaps even more surprising are the touching character arcs – one that forces Present Day Nick to become a better person after interacting with Future Nick. Tragically, the action-comedy deserves far more attention than it’s getting, but viewers can still watch it over and over via its streaming home on Hulu.
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BenDavid Grabinski
BenDavid Grabinski