The 2012 indie film starring Aubrey Plaza about a magazine intern who answers a time-travel classified ad is Safety Not Guaranteed.
Directed by Colin Trevorrow and written by Derek Connolly, the film follows Darius Britt, played by Plaza, as she investigates Kenneth Calloway, a man who claims to need a partner for a journey through time. Mark Duplass plays Kenneth, while Jake Johnson portrays the magazine writer who assigns Darius the story. The film blends science fiction, romantic comedy, and character drama rather than presenting time travel as a conventional action-adventure premise.
Its unusual idea came from a real joke classified advertisement published in Backwoods Home Magazine in 1997. The film was made on a budget of about $750,000 and premiered at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, where Connolly won the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award. A common mix-up is confusing it with About Time, a later romantic time-travel film, or Primer, a much more technical science-fiction drama. Safety Not Guaranteed is especially notable as Trevorrow's feature directorial debut before he moved on to larger productions.