By Luca Newton
As almost its own subgenre of film, "time loop" movies have become quite the popular form of storytelling since Groundhog Day released.
If you know me, you'll know that my favourite movie of all time isn't La La Land, or Baby Driver or any of the MCU movies. It's a movie that is very different from each of these films I listed - it's Groundhog Day. I've wanted to cover this film for ages, but honestly didn't know if words were possible to define how much I love the movie. However, after seeing The Map of Tiny Perfect Things last week, it sent me down a rabbit hole, looking at other time loop movies. And I've realised an inherent flaw with them, and I've also found movies which have succeeded at being time loop movies and truly working for me.
Why Groundhog Day WORKS
High concept comedy movies have always been very popular. Typically there'll be a popular actor, and they'll write a comedy around them with this high concept that really makes it different and interesting. Some other films like Liar Liar with Jim Carrey do this exact thing. They're mostly successful. Liar Liar was very good, but is it my favourite film ever made? Not remotely close. It's a really sweet little story, that has the titular character go through a very drastic character arc because he is a lawyer who cannot lie anymore. It's fun, well made and heart-warming. For a film like Groundhog Day, you'd assume the same philosophy would be applied. Not for me.
See the thing is for Groundhog Day, it is a lot more than a romantic comedy. It means a lot more. Harold Ramis took the concept of the same day repeating over and over and absolutely perfected it. In a film that is only an hour and a half long, yet manages to fully realise its concept. It's advertised as a comedy for the fact that there's recurring characters who exaggerate, and cause for some funny moments. It is a romantic movie given that Phil Connors is trying to get Rita any way he can. However, those are very loose in my opinion. To me, Groundhog Day TRANSCENDS its genres. It is significantly more than a romcom in that sense. It almost feels degrading to boil it down to just a romcom.
What is so great about Groundhog Day is that it's almost this drama. Phil starts the movie as a very selfish man, and changes to a selfless man come the end. However, the way he gets there is filled with drama and tragedy. Phil first finds out he is stuck in the same day, and his first thought after he mopes around is to benefit himself, then try to use this loop to seduce Rita. This is a natural progression, he hasn't changed yet, so as a selfish person he would naturally use this anomaly to his advantage. However, after he realises there's no way he can seduce Rita the way he is doing it, he doesn't then have his eureka moment to be a better person. Instead, he chooses to kill himself. But he realises he can't, so he does it every possible way he can. It shows his weakness - he would rather die than actually change. However, after the first truly genuine intimate conversation with Rita, Phil realises he doesn't deserve Rita. He is then set on a path to better himself using the ability. He uses the loop for everyone around himself other than himself. Once he genuinely uses the loop for other people, he becomes a worthy person for Rita, and it breaks the loop.
Of course that is a love story, and there's a lot of fun moments sprinkled in there, but by that stretch there's also a lot of death in the movie too, with Phil committing suicide 4 times on screen, and many more off screen, and the old man who Phil desperately tries to keep alive, but is faced with the cold truth that there is literally nothing he can do, and the old man will eternally die on that day. The themes are very strong too. It's overall tinged with this sense of maturity and drama, with aspects of romance and comedy.
But it transcends all of these and in a way, became its own subgenre. If it is a subgenre of its own, that entails that there are really good examples and some... not so good.
The Time Loop Movie Wins
Edge of Tomorrow
In 2013, Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt starred in an action/sci-fi movie adapted loosely from a manga called All You Need Is Kill. The film took the concept of being caught in a time loop and applied it to an sci-fi action film. It results in a very solid film. The reason it works is because it is a vastly different concept from Groundhog Day, it didn't even specifically inspire itself from Groundhog Day as it was based on a story that had time loop in it, however the movie adaptation was probably made because of the popularity of Groundhog Day.
Both performances from Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt are great, and the action is just really fun and well done. It also is quite funny with how it uses the time loop sometimes. It overall makes a very solid action film that has this same cool concept and completely changes how it's used for its own success. It isn't just a copy of Groundhog Day.
Palm Springs
Last year, Palm Springs released on Hulu in America, and came out this year for me. It's a romantic comedy film starring Andy Samberg and Cristin Milioti. Andy Samberg's character is already in the time loop, and hooks up with a bridesmaid, however in this loop, she follows him into a mysterious cave where she's trapped in the time loop with him. What ensues is a really funny film with a believable romance. It is paced perfectly in such a way where you are constantly entertained. It explores several possibilities that come with the concept, but they differ from Groundhog Day.
The thing with Palm Springs is that it is very clearly a romcom in its structure and writing. Which is absolutely not a problem, because it owns that structure. Because of that, it never feels too similar to Groundhog Day, it is distinctly it's own thing in the best way. And while it is not remotely as deep as Groundhog Day is, it is way funnier in my opinion. This film is genuinely hilarious. It is unique, and it is the exact same genre as the original Groundhog Day. It's the perfect example of taking a concept and adding a twist, with 2 people in the same loop, which completely changes up the dynamic.
The Time Loop Movie Losses
Before I Fall
Firstly, I don't HATE this movie. Before I Fall is a teen romance movie based on a novel, starring Zoey Deutsch. It's about Zoey Deutsch reliving the day she dies several times. The concept is cool but it's literally been done better. So what does this have to offer specifically? Well if you like teen dramas, you'll love this. It's often written like one, which turned me off when I was watching. It feels way too cheesy. The build-up to the first loop felt too dragged out, I feel like a lot of the time could've been used for more day loops, which there really didn't feel like there were many. When this is a character arc time loop movie, you need more time to make the change believable. The one thing I really like about it is what they did with the ending, it was different, and offered something new for this type of movie, having the main character be permanently dead.
It's not bad, it's fine for what it was and has some aspects I liked, but overall could've been a lot better. It doesn't really feel like a new take on the formula, it's kind of the same thing but teen romance instead. It doesn't really do much more with it.
The Map of Tiny Perfect Things
Before I Fall had a more tepid reception for me, but the reason I made this blog was because of The Map of Tiny Perfect Things. It came out this year, and it is absolutely abysmal and completely shameless with how much it isn't trying to be unique or original.
The Map of Tiny Perfect Things is about a man who has been in a time loop for a while, who meets another girl who is also in a time loop. So they take advantage of that and become good friends, but the boy wants more. However, one if them really wants to leave the loop so attempts to, but the other wants to stay in the loop because he's got used to it. However, both get out and are ok with it because they are together. I went in depth because you could easily say I was describing Palm Springs basically. And you'd be right, it's way too similar. I know it's only been a year since Palm Springs released and this film probably wasn't aware of the similarities, it was just a coincidence. But man, I don't know. It's WAY too similar. The funny thing is that they mention Edge of Tomorrow and Groundhog Day several times to be meta but it doesn't really change anything.
But just being a bit too similar isn't too bad right? Yeah it isn't original, but it can still be decent. No. It just absolutely isn't for me. Firstly the main character looks like John Cena's TikTok-obsessed child, and just was really unlikeable for me, I was completely detached from him. I like Kathryn Newton though, she was ok here. Not well written though, she seemed almost edgy for the sake of it. They really try to attach a really sad story to her that doesn't work at all. Also the film looks like it was made as a YouTube skit, and feels like it in every other way. The script is bad, the cinematography is off, and the camera movement is bizarre. You have these characters moving and picking up stuff and then doing nothing with them and the camera is dynamic with them. I would usually commend that, but it is completely irrelevant to the film and has no reason to be in there, it feels nauseating. This film feels like a cheap knock-off for YouTube, yet it's a full length movie and is poorly paced with nothing happening of any actual interest.
Hopefully in the future, these time loop movies follow in the footsteps of Palm Springs rather than The Map of Tiny Perfect Things. Fresh new takes on the genre, which is well made and entertaining. The subgenre is susceptible to being too samey, when there's certainly potential to have more diversity. Either way, Groundhog Day will always be the best one.
Thanks for reading.
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