Sarah's Photograph

When Kyle tells Sarah his story, we see a future scene in which his photo of Sarah catches fire. He tells her that John, her son, gave him the photograph, although Kyle never understood why he did so. However, we quickly begin to suspect the truth about John's paternity; it seems that Kyle fathered him during his trip back to 1984. John describes Sarah's appearance in the photograph as being somehow sad. In the last scene of the movie, we see a little boy take the same photograph of Sarah. She tucks it away to give to her unborn son at a later date, along with the tapes she is recording for him.

Sarah's photograph instigates Kyle's love for her while at the same time causing John to lose his father forever. The photograph symbolizes the complex relational cycle in which the characters find themselves. Although John may...