The Poof Point 2001

Norton Ballard [Mark Curry] and Marigold Ballard [Dawnn Lewis] are two 40-year-old scientists who invent a time machine. On one test run, they attempt to send two goldfish into the 1860s. Their dog Einstein unintentionally interferes with the setup, causing a critical component—the “vector modulator”—to fall out and the machine to misfire. Instead of sending the goldfish to the past, the device de-ages them to the moment just before they were born, the Poof Point. Norton and Marigold remain unaware of the glitch as they head off to attend the graduation of their children, Eddie Ballard [Tahj Mowry] and Marie Ballard [Raquel Lee], who feel embarrassed by their parents’ attempts at socializing and sense a widening gap between generations. Eddie has dreams of joining a band called the Urban Slugs, and plans to audition at his house.

The couple decide to run the experiment again, but the particle beam is accidentally redirected toward them. Eddie Ballard [Tahj Mowry] and Marie Ballard [Raquel Lee] arrive to find their parents have regressed to 21 and believe they are living in the 1980s, still in college days and unaware they built the machine. Norton Ballard [Mark Curry] and Marigold Ballard [Dawnn Lewis] realize this is the result of the malfunction and set out to fix it. But the error compounds, and they regress further until they become 14-year-olds who have no knowledge of the time machine and must navigate adolescence while their children watch in disbelief. They discuss their social lives as teenagers with their children, then wander away from home.

In a diner, Marigold tells Cloe [Camille Jensen] that the Urban Slugs are playing at Eddie’s house, turning a casual rumor into a full-blown plan and drawing more kids to the scene. Eddie and Marie race to locate the missing vector modulator and set the machine in motion to restore their parents before they vanish completely. Norton and Marigold become 2-year-olds, causing mischief and resisting the idea of returning to their normal ages. The kids locate the vector modulator, coax their parents toward the machine, and activate it just as they teeter on the brink of disappearance. The device hums to life, and the parents reappear, safe and restored. As they reflect on the ordeal, the family discovers that their parents were once as young and uncertain as they are, and this shared experience helps them grow closer and bond in a new, deeper way.