History Film / Frequency

** Averted with [[spoiler:Shepard]]. His brain should have been going ''nuts'' with deja vu and new timelines while he's fighting with the Sullivans in their respective time periods. Or so you'd think. [[spoiler:Notably, neither Shepard was even paying attention to the radio until 1969!Shepard heard 1999!Shepard and 1999!Shepard heard 1969!Frank near the end of the fight. After they became aware, 1999!Shepard ''did'' notice the changes--much to his own shock--but just didn't have time to process them.]]

** [[spoiler:Shepard]] leaving his fingerprints on Frank's wallet allows John to identify him as The Nightengale.

* OhCrap: The look on Frank's face when [[spoiler:Shepard corners him in the police station]].

* NiceJobFixingItVillain: [[spoiler:1999!Shepard saying "Time to die, Sullivan!" to 1999!John gets picked up over the radio in 1969, distracting 1969!Shepard long enough for Julia to get the jump on him and Frank to shoot his hand off. Not only that, but Frank seems to have also heard it, letting him know where and when in 1999 to finish him off.]]

** Averted with [[spoiler:Shepard]]. His brain should have been going ''nuts'' with deja vu and new timelines while he's fighting with the Sullivans in their respective time periods. Or so you'd think. [[spoiler:Notably, neither Shepard was even paying attention to the radio until 1969!Shepard heard 1999!Shepard and 1999!Shepard heard 1969!Frank near the end of the fight. After they became aware, 1999!Shepard did notice the changes--much to his own shock--but just didn't have time to process it.]]

--->[[spoiler:'''Nightingale:''']] Time for me to steal ''your'' life away.

** [[spoiler:Averted with Shepard. His brain should have been going ''nuts'' with deja vu and new timelines while he's fighting with the Sullivans in their respective time periods. Or so you'd think. Notably, neither Shepard was even paying attention to the radio until 1969 Shepard heard 1999 Shepard and 1999 Shepard heard 1969 Frank near the end of the fight. After they became aware, 1999 Shepard did notice the changes much to his own shock but just didn't have time to process it.]]

** [[spoiler:Averted with Shepard. His brain should have been going ''nuts'' with deja vu and new timelines while he's fighting with the Sullivans in their respective time periods. Or so you'd think. Notably, neither Shepard was even paying attention to the radio until 1969 Shepard heard 1999 Shepard and 1999 Shepard heard 1969 Frank near the end of the fight. After that, 1999 Shepard did notice the changes much to his own shock.]]

** [[spoiler:Averted with Shepard. His brain should have been going ''nuts'' with deja vu and new timelines while he's fighting with the Sullivans in their respective time periods. Or so you'd think. Notably, he wasn't paying attention to the radio until he heard himself (in 1969) and Frank (in 1999) in both time periods near the end of the fight. After that, 1999 Shepard did notice the changes.]]

** [[spoiler:Averted with Shepard. His brain should have been going ''nuts'' with deja vu and new timelines while he's fighting with the Sullivans in their respective time periods. Or so you'd think. Notably, he wasn't notice until he heard himself (in 1969) and Frank (in 1999) on the radio in both time periods near the end of the fight. After that, 1999 Shepard did notice the changes.]]

** [[spoiler:Averted with Shepard. His brain should have been going ''nuts'' with deja vu and new timelines while he's fighting with the Sullivans in their respective time periods. Or so you'd think. Notably, he wasn't affected until he heard himself (in 1969) and Frank (in 1999) on the radio in both time periods near the end of the fight. After that, 1999 Shepard did notice the changes.]]

** [[spoiler:Averted with Shepard. His brain should have been going ''nuts'' with deja vu and new timelines while he's fighting with the Sullivans in their respective time periods. Or so you'd think. Notably, he wasn't affected until he heard himself (1969) and Frank (1999) on the radio in both time periods near the end of the fight. After that, 1999 Shepard did notice the changes.]]

** [[spoiler:Averted with Shepard. His brain should have been going ''nuts'' with deja vu and new timelines while he's fighting with the Sullivans in their respective time periods. Notably, he wasn't affected until he heard himself (1969) and Frank (1999) on the radio in both time periods near the end of the fight. After that, 1999 Shepard did notice the changes.]]

** [[spoiler:Averted with Shepard. His brain should have been going ''nuts'' with deja vu and new timelines while he's fighting with the Sullivans in their respective time periods. Notably, he wasn't affected until he heard himself )1969) and Frank (1999) on the radio in both time periods near the end of the fight. After that, 1999 Shepard did notice the changes.]]

** [[spoiler:Somehow averted with Shepard. His brain should have been going ''nuts'' with deja vu and new timelines while he's fighting with the Sullivans in their respective time periods.]]

* KillerCop: [[spoiler:The Nightingale Killer is a SerialKiller of women who turns out to be a fairly respected cop]].

* ChronicEvidenceRetentionSyndrome: The Nightingale Killer had a box with trophies and newspaper clippings, stashed in a hidden compartment in a closet in his apartment. Once John identifies the killer in 1999, [[spoiler: he tells his father (in 1969) about Shephard, he explains that when the FBI searches his place (John instructs him to tip them off anonymously), they'll find them since the police knew that the killer always took mementos.]]

* ChronicEvidenceRetentionSyndrome: The Nightingale Killer had a box with trophies and newspaper clippings, stashed in a hidden compartment in a closet in his apartment. Once John identifies the killer in 1999, [[spoiler: he tells his father (in 1969) about Shephard, he tells him that when the FBI searches his place, they'll find them since the police knew that the killer always took mementos.]]

* ChronicEvidenceRetentionSyndrome: The Nightingale Killer had a box with trophies and newspaper clippings, stashed in a hidden compartment in a closet in his apartment. Once John identifies the killer in 1999, [[spoiler: he sends his father (in 1969) to the address to find it since the police knew that the killer always took mementos.]]

* BrickJoke: Yahoo.

* MamaBear: Julia

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: See ButterflyOfDoom, above.

* SerialKiller: The Nightingale Killer.

* ChronicEvidenceRetentionSyndrome: The Nightingale Killer in Frequency had a box with trophies and newspaper clippings, stashed in a hidden compartment in a closet in his apartment. Once John identifies the killer in 1999, [[spoiler: he sends his father (in 1969) to the address to find it since the police knew that the killer always took mementos.]]

* PlayingGertrude: Creator/ElizabethMitchell is two years ''younger'' than Jim Caviezel while playing his mother in the present timeline. Make-up made her look way older though.

In 2016, Creator/TheCW greenlit ''Series/{{Frequency}}'', a television adaptation of the film; John Sullivan has undergone a GenderFlip into Raimy Sullivan (Creator/PeytonList), Frank has been made into a cop just like his daughter, and the concurrent timelines are now 1996 and 2016 (only a 20-year separation). Going undercover, he was murdered under circumstances which ruined his reputation and left his widowed wife and daughter alone and confused. The rest of the plot seems to be roughly the same as the film for now, albeit with Frank, having survived his assassination attempt, looking into the who's and why's of his murder.

Not to be confused with the obscure RhythmGame [[VideoGame/{{Frequency}} of the same name.]]

* MeanwhileInTheFuture: The effects of the temporally-displaced conversation between father and son don't take place all at once. Although it is quite inconstant -- the speed of some actions in the past seems synced to the speed of the effects appearing in the present while others can take only a fraction of a second in the past but the effect in the present takes much longer. Notable examples:

* ChronicEvidenceRetentionSyndrome: The Nightingale Killer in Frequency had a box with trophies and newspaper clippings, stashed in a hidden compartment in a closet in his apartment. Once John identifies the killer in 1999, [[spoiler: he sends his father (in 1969) to the address to find it, since the police knew that the killer always took mementos.]]

* HalfwayPlotSwitch: Goes from touching story about a son reconnecting with his dead father into a SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong thriller. And it works.

* ICanSeeYou: Initially Frank believes this to be happening when talking to a weird guy on a shortwave radio who tells him that he just burned the table. Actually, the weird guy is Frank's son thirty years in the future and he knows about the accident because a 30 year old burn mark has just appeared on the table he is sitting at.

* SanDimasTime: 1969 time and 1999 time seems to be hooked up and run concurrently during the duration of the ''aurora borealis''. Possibly the best portrayed example in movie history. A prime example would be the climax in which [[spoiler:Frank shoots off the killer's hand]]. It is made to look like JustInTime to prevent the killer from offing John in the present. In reality Frank would have had 30 years to do that. In fact Frank does take TheSlowPath and eventually [[spoiler:rescues John from the Nightingale Killer but only [[BigDamnHeroes in the last possible moment]].]]

* SlowMotionDrop: Frank's helmet hits the pavement when the warehouse building explodes. This is a technique for firefighters in impossible circumstances, as a last ditch call for help.

* TelepathicSprinklers: Frank does this to divert attention, when he escapes the police station. He triggers the sprinkler in his interrogation room which then turns on all sprinklers on the floor.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: It's never shown what happened to [[spoiler: Shepherd's father, especially in the final timeline. One can only assume he died of heart-break upon learning about the awful truth]].

[=NYPD=] detective John Sullivan (Creator/JimCaviezel) is the adult son of a firefighter, Frank (Creator/DennisQuaid), who tragically died on the job when John was a child in 1969. John discovers that during the aurora borealis in 1999 he can use his father's old ham radio to talk to exactly him 30 years in the past. Using his knowledge of the past thirty years, John changes history, saving Frank from dying in that fateful accident. They soon discover that changing the timeline has drastic consequences. A serial killer known as the Nightingale Killer had died in the old timeline - but in the new timeline, John's mother, Julia (Creator/ElizabethMitchell), a nurse, was not called away due to Frank's death, and thus she was able to prevent the killer's death in the hospital. In the erased timeline, the killer claimed only three victims - but in the new timeline he kills ten women, one of them John's mother.

* TelepathicSprinklers: Frank does this to not attract attention to himself, when he escapes the police station. He triggers the sprinkler in his interrogation room which then turns on all sprinklers on the floor.

John Sullivan (Creator/JimCaviezel) is the adult son of a firefighter, Frank (Creator/DennisQuaid), who died on the job when John was a child. John discovers that during the Aurora Borealis he can use his father's old ham radio to talk to him 30 years in the past. Using his knowledge of the past thirty years, John changes history, saving Frank from dying. They soon discover that changing the timeline has drastic consequences. A serial killer known as the Nightingale Killer had died in the old timeline - but in the new timeline, John's mother, a nurse, was not called away due to Frank's death, and thus she was able to prevent the killer's death in the hospital. In the erased timeline, the killer claimed only three victims - but in the new timeline he kills ten women, one of them John's mother.

* NiceJobFixingItVillain: [[spoiler:1999!Shepard saying "Time to die, Sullivan!" to 1999!John gets picked up over the radio in 1969, distracting 1969!Shepard long enough for Julia to get the jump on him and Frank to shoot his hand off.]]

* TheSlowPath: Everyone from '69, obviously, but the gold medal has to go to [[spoiler:the Jack Shepard of the final timeline. After getting his ass kicked and his hand completely blown off by Frank, he then runs away and goes into hiding for ''thirty years'' before returning to the Sullivan house in 1999 to try to kill John.]]