15 Best Endless Loop Films. One of the cool things about independent films is that they really can do whatever they want. They can toss characters into totally impractical situations, unrealistic experiences, and they can watch to see what they do next. Why? Why would you do that? Well, because these movies focus on the human experience as opposed to dealing with real life drama. To put characters into a blender and see what happens next shows the flaws in the human condition, strips humanity bare, and really draws out a deeper problem happening deep within us. It’s as if psychologists were allowed to perform scientific experiments that would be considered immoral on the best of days.
The other day, Naveen brought us another interesting film that got me thinking. The movie was called, “Endless Loop,” fairly unsubtle I would say. But the real contribution Endless Loop had was it got my wheels spinning. What is the definition of a Loop movie? At first I was thinking that pretty much any time traveling movie, was also a looping movie. It just sort of depends on the vantage point of the viewer. Are we following the traveler or are we remaining stationary as he proceeds? But then I realized that wasn’t exactly true. A Perfect Loop movie is an individual trapped in a non-moving day. It’s a metaphor for hell. A looping movie is its own closed box confinement. And I would guess that the perfect example, would be Groundhog Day. A hellscape wherein he is trapped until he can make penance for his past selfishness, and eventually change his heart until he truly becomes selfless.
Well, in an attempt to get your feedback on what you guys thought of as the Perfect Loop movie, you innately understood what a LOOP movie was… and you voted accordingly, with only ONE movie being considered that may or may not be a loop movie (we’ll discuss it later). But here is the list of movies I put forward as candidates: Endless Loop (the one I listed above), The Fare, Arq, Palm Springs, Russian Doll, Edge of Tomorrow, Triangle, Groundhog Day, Boss Level, Happy Death Day, Timecrimes, Primer, Map of Tiny Perfect Things, Coherence, Blood Punch, A Day, and The Incident.
Look at that list, and think about it a moment and you see the problem that I was expressing. Primer? Arq? One of these things is not like the other. Maybe? Maybe you don’t know Arq (which is a shame in and of itself). But what about Timecrimes? Is that a looping movie? Nacho Vigalondo (who has been kind enough to chat with me several different times about his amazing movies, Timecrimes, V/H/S Viral, Colossal, etc.) might say, yes, it is. But practically speaking, it’s more of a REALLY TIGHTLY WOUND time traveling film. No? So, for this list, I am going to drop all the time traveling films… and try and stick with the specifically LOOPING films. (Some (“some” here is just me) have said that Primer actually could be argued to be a looping movie… but we’ll discount “some” people at this point, and just leave Primer off the list, as much as it breaks “some” of our hearts.)
These rankings were created by a purely democratic, unbiased, and unmanipulatable (cough) poll that was conducted on July 4th. If you missed it… I’m sorry. Feel free to throw stones at your fellow readers for being an idiot for how they voted in the comments below.
Top 15 Best Endless Loop Films
#15 – Happy Death Day – Tree Gelbman is caught in a loop. She started the day, waking in the bed of a student named Carter. But as she continues through the day, she starts to wonder if maybe she has experienced this particular day before. But when she is murdered by a masked killer – she wakes again, back in Carter’s bed again, healthy and unharmed. And apparently, Tree now needs to relive this day, over and over again until she figures out exactly who murdered her. And after watching the trailer (which you can find right here) I’ve now added this to my watch list. This looks fantastically meta. Watch it on Amazon Prime, Apple TV, or on your Hulu Premium.
#14 – The Fare – A woman climbs into a taxi, and the driver can’t shake why he is so entranced by her. Later, she disappears, then when he resets his meter, he is brought right back again to the moment she first climbed into the car… starting the loop all over again. What is going on here? What is their connection, and why is this situation repeating endlessly? When I first was introduced to this film, I immediately fell in love with it. So much so I went and found the lead actor, and the co-author of the screenplay, and interviewed her to learn as much as I could about this brilliant little film. And that this is down at 14 is just a crime. Basically want to spike my football and go home. But alas, this was a free and fare (see what I did there?)
#13 – Boss Level – A guy wakes, realizes he’s late, and then is attacked in his apartment and shot a million times from a mini-gun hanging out the side window of Huey. He wakes again, and starts over again. This time he sides steps the bullets perfectly, until he is run over by a semi in the street down below. And so goes the dance of Boss Level. If you like full tilt inanity-laced action in the middle of your loop movies, there is no better movie on this list. Watch it right now on Hulu.
#12 – Russian Doll – Look. If you watch Russian Doll, and decide you don’t like it, I promise you that I will … not be your friend anymore. No. That’s not nice. I promise that I will never talk to you again. STOP IT! Gah. If you don’t like it, then, um. I have nothing else for you on this list. Yes, it’s number 12 on this list, but it’s really that good. The story is about Nadia, who is heading to a party, but somewhere along the way she starts dying every night, and after which, she starts over again the previous day. It’s some of the funniest writing ever, and really clever throughout. Watch it right now on Netflix.
#11 – A Day – If sleuthing, and trying to uncover what is really going on is more your dish, then this one is the one you should start with. A Day, is a Korean film about a man who is dying to save his daughter’s life. But the layers here are so very complicated. And the deeper truth here is really worth investigating. This was a really great ride. Watch over on Netflix.
#10 – Blood Punch – A guy busts out of rehab in order to track a woman as she heads to score some drugs. Only glitch? When he follows her to an isolated cabin, and her psychotic boyfriend, this downward spiral goes out of control when a supernatural cycle descends into ritualistic mayhem. Or something. The closed box force is strong with this one. Watch it over on Prime. Warning, this one gets a little violent.
#9 – Map of Tiny Perfect Things – I haven’t watched this one yet. Can’t eat up all the perfect Loop movies?! Then they’d be all gone! But if I do? It’ll be because of Kathryn Newton. Mark, a teen who is contentedly living a single day, over and over again, gets thrown for a loop when he finds out that Margaret is also caught in the same time loop. Together they set out to map all the little details that make the day perfect. A fantastic looping spiral of a love story… from what I hear anyway. You can watch it over on Netflix.
#8 – Groundhog Day – Do I need to even say anything about this one? I mean really? It’s only here because… I mean, duh. Watch it over on Apple TV, Google Play… etc etc.
#7 – Endless Loop – I told you about this film which kicked this list off up at the top of this page… it’s the movie that got me thinking. The story starts because of one journey. The movie is a Chinese film housed in a tunnel. A group of travelers get stuck… and soon they realize that the tunnel is an endless loop. Later, they begin realizing that the tunnel isn’t only a loop but that time seems to be affected as well, or something weird is going on anyway. It was a fun little movie, and you can watch it right here for free on Youtube.
#6 – The Endless – okay… this one comes closest to breaking the rules of the strict, looping boundary background of this list. But I stand by it (it and it’s cousin Resolution). Two brothers decide they should return to a cult that they successfully escaped years before. Hoping for closure, they are forced to consider that the cult’s belief might have some legitimate reality to it. We had a lot of fun discussing this one – and be sure to join us after you watch The Endless on Prime.
#5 – Palm Springs – A bit of a comedy this one. Sort of in the same vein as Russian Doll. Two people, wedding guests, find themselves stuck in a time loop. The duo begin developing a bit of a flourishing romance while living the same day over and over again. Join in on the conversation here, right after you watch Palm Springs over on Hulu.
#4 – The Incident – Is this even a loop? I mean, it’s loops of loops, of loops. But I don’t want to give too much away here. This one is crazy though – that’s for sure. There are two parallel stories here about characters trapped in endless, and mind-altering loops. The first is about two brothers and a detective chasing them along an infinite staircase. The second loop? Is a family locked on an infinite road – for a very long time.
#3 – Edge of Tomorrow – Possibly a perfect movie when it comes to a looping movie. At least in my opinion. It’s complex, it’s clever, and it utilizes the looping back story in a really unique way. It basically tells the story of a global invasion of aliens. An accident occurs, and an individual is given the ability to iterate, and reiterate, again and again. Each day he is able to learn more about the aliens, and extend further and further by staying alive longer in the day. Join the conversation right here if you’ve already seen it, if you haven’t?? Put this down and go watch it right now! Prime, AppleTV…
#2 – Arq – This is the movie I voted for. Why? Because hardly anyone knows about this one. Also? It’s low-budget, closed box brilliance. The repetition informs in fits and starts by revealing who are the good guys here, and who are the bad guys, and the scope widens steadily until we realize what is actually going on here. “Trapped in a lab and stuck in a time loop, a disoriented couple fends off masked raiders while harboring a new energy source that could save humanity.” Watch Arq on Netflix, then come join in on the discussion.
#1 – Triangle – Come on, you can’t go wrong with Triangle in the number 1 slot. I know there are many of you here that just can’t stand this protagonist. (Not to spoil the story for you… but, that’s sort of the point. Just saying.) “Yacht passengers encounter mysterious weather conditions that force them to jump onto another ship, only to have the odd havoc increase.” That has got to be the lamest movie summary ever – but I’m leaving it, because I don’t want to spoil it in any way, shape, or form. Watch Triangle over on Prime, Then join us and help us try and figure it out right here.
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Literally, this is the internet’s definitive list of the best looping films (not time travel films but LOOPING films.) But it obviously isn’t meant to be a complete, comprehensive, or exhaustive list. If you’d like to direct the community to more looping films, we would love to add more movies to our list! Comment below to let us know about others.
Edited by: CY