The Price of Life (1987)
Why Science Fiction & Fantasy Stack Exchange recommends it
Science Fiction & Fantasy Stack Exchange answerers point people to it when someone is trying to identify a 'time as money' film, since it predates and closely resembles the 2011 movie In Time.
Recommended by 0 people across 0 different months, 2018 to 2024.
What it is
A 40-minute 1987 short film, The Price of Life, set in a future where time is the currency and every person's remaining life is stored in a personal time account. A boy named Zachary tries to earn more time to save his sister and mother, and the film is uploaded here in full by the channel magnitoman.
What people said
Cites TheIcePhoenix · 2018-01 · Science Fiction & Fantasy Stack Exchange · on “Time as money movie”
I think you are looking for a short film called "The Price of Life" produced in 1987 by Stephen Tolkin. While its not in B&W it does sound like what your referring to in plot and premise. Plotline In the future money is not the most valuable commodity -- not stocks or shares. Instead the currency of choice is time and the populace are able to trade hours, days and weeks off their lives in exchange for services and goods. Into this world is born baby Zachary -- who grows into a little boy with a game plan and a scheme to make more time; whereas his sister swaps weeks for sweets etc as if it didn't matter. As adults, Zachary has continued this path, but so has his sister and he finds himself t
Cites DavidW · 2019-06 · Science Fiction & Fantasy Stack Exchange · on “80's-90's TV show or movie about life clocks”
This might be the 1987 short "The Price of Life" [LINK] which I found referenced on the Wikipedia page for "In Time" [LINK] (2011). I have never heard of this, so I'm just going to quote the Wikipedia summary [LINK] : The basic premise of the film is that a time account is physically linked to every infant at birth, with death automatic when the balance drops to zero. An elite upper-class is portrayed as living hundreds of years or more. The protagonist is given a certain amount of time as an infant, and as a young boy adds days and years to his time account by buying valuables from people and selling them to visiting tourists from the rich enclave. After his sister dies after gambling away
Cites FuzzyBoots · 2020-01 · Science Fiction & Fantasy Stack Exchange · on “What film had a similar plot to "In Time"?”
This may be The Price of Life [LINK] as per Time as money movie [LINK] The basic premise of the film is that a time account is physically linked to every infant at birth, with death automatic when the balance drops to zero. An elite upper-class is portrayed as living hundreds of years or more. The protagonist is given a certain amount of time as an infant, and as a young boy adds days and years to his time account by buying valuables from people and selling them to visiting tourists from the rich enclave. After his sister dies after gambling away her time, the protagonist (now a young man) sets out on a journey to the enclave of "the Old Ones" in order to save the life of his mother, who is
Cites DavidW · 2024-02 · Science Fiction & Fantasy Stack Exchange · on “Does the movie "In Time" have a previous film?”
Could it be you saw (and are not recalling exactly) the short (40 min) movie The Price of Life [LINK] from 1987? Time is used as currency just as in In Time , but people carry around little point-of-sale like terminals (which are white) to make transactions. Personal time, however, is stored on black swipe cards. The Wikipedia page [LINK] for the movie describes it as an unacknowledged precursor to In Time .