“Knowing” took the top spot at the box office this weekend, pulling in $24.8 million. I caught a Saturday matinee in a half-full theater, mentally prepping myself during the previews to not immediately side-eye Nicolas Cage for his signature tendency to go full Cage.

If you can forgive the moments where Cage’s intensity gets cranked a bit too high and focus on Rose Byrne’s solid performance instead, there’s something wild and strangely compelling here. Depending on your tolerance for sci-fi weirdness and existential curveballs, you might leave thinking this movie was either 80% fantastic or 100% nonsense.

Cage plays a widowed science professor whose precocious son receives a mysterious sheet of numbers from a 50-year-old time capsule. Turns out the numbers correlate to every major disaster over the past five decades, including dates, body counts and GPS coordinates.

He has a caring sister he denounces, and super religious parents, whom he no longer contacts. When the paper’s prophecies start ringing true, Cage loses his shit and then the movie starts getting real weird.

I refuse to spoil this because I want people to watch it and help me process how to feel about this movie. It should be applauded for amazing special effects and an ending that you would NEVER see coming at all.

So I’ll say it deserves the number-one spot, even though I Love You, Man was my favorite to win. Cage deserves this one, I think. No, yeah, he definitely does.

U.S Box Office Top 5

1. “Knowing” $24.8 million

2. “I Love You, Man” $18 million

3.”Duplicity” $14 million

4.”Race to Witch Mountain $13 million

5. “Watchmen” $6.7 million