10 Time Loop Movies You Must Watch Over And Over

GFR SCORE

Starring Andy Samberg, Cristin Miloti, and J.K. Simmons, Palm Springs, came out in 2020 and has been woefully overlooked. While attending her sister’s wedding, Sarah (Miloti) accidentally gets trapped in a time loop alongside Nyles (Samberg), who has already lived through multiple loops of November 9. Roy, a wedding guest Nyles accidentally trapped with him, is actively hunting them just every few times to keep things interesting.

What makes Palm Springs one of the best time loop movies of all time is that it has fun with the concept and refuses to take it seriously. Instead, character dynamics take centerstage, with the desire to live forever in paradise presented as a tempting option, making it the rare time loop movie where doing nothing at all is possible. That and it’s one of the funniest films in the genre and is currently Andy Samberg’s best movie.

GFR SCORE

It’s not the first time loop movie, but Groundhog Day made the concept popular again, to the point where it’s commonly called “Groundhog Day.” Starring Bill Murray, the 1993 comedy is ranked lower than Palm Springs on Rotten Tomatoes, which has to be an argument for score inflation as this is a classic enshrined in the National Film Registry. Though coming up just short defines Phil Conners (Murray) for most of the film, making it oddly fitting.

In this time loop, Conners wakes up, and it’s Groundhog Day every day, embracing the ability to do whatever he wants with no consequence. Fitting for the genre, that’s going to come up over and over on this list, but when it’s Bill Murray giving into his id, it’s a comedy masterclass. If you haven’t seen a lot of time loop movies, make sure to watch Groundhog Day, which will make all the references and homages in later films even more amusing.

GFR SCORE

A 1998 German film made for under $2 million, Run Lola Run is one of the most kinetic movies ever made. Franke Potenta is Lola, a woman trying to save her boyfriend from a crime boss by collecting $100,000 in only 20 minutes. Through the amazing choice of playing out in near real-time, Run Lola Run has the least time loops of any movie on this list, but it makes up for it by having no slow moments for the entire 88-minute runtime.

By the time the credits roll, the audience is sweating just as much as Lola. Due to the sheer speed of the film, there’s no time spent indulging in a time loop, and no time is wasted on figuring out what’s going on. Run Lola Run is pure survival instincts, speed, and adrenaline, making it one of the most influential films that no one’s watched.

GFR SCORE

Jake Gyllenhaal‘s best movie, Source Code, features the smallest time loop on this list at only eight minutes long. Military officer Colter Stevens (Gyllenhaal) is sent back over and over through the strange Source Code machine to find the bomber responsible for blowing up a passenger train. Along the way, Colter falls in love with a passenger, Christina (Michelle Monaghan), and figures out the true nature of the artificially created time loop.

As with Run Lola Run, there’s nothing casual about the time loops in Source Code, with the short eight-minute window forcing each loop to propel the story forward. The twists and turns of the film play with the concept of time and reality, eventually going far beyond the initial scope of the film and proving that the time loop genre can be pushed to the edge of science fiction.

GFR SCORE

Edge of Tomorrow has the best tagline on this list, “Live. Die. Repeat.” Starring Tom Cruise as Major William Cage and Emily Blunt as Sergeant Rita Vrataski, Edge of Tomorrow explores the weaponization of time loops. Continuing the post-Groundhog Day trend of pushing time loops in new directions, the sci-fi military action movie attempts to explain how the phenomena happen and how it can be used for nefarious ends.

With the biggest budget and easily the most explosions of any film on this list, Edge of Tomorrow had the highest expectations when it was released in 2014, with Warner Bros expecting it to break $200 million. Opening weekend was only $20 million domestically, but over the last few years, the film has developed a cult following to the point where it’s considered one of Tom Cruise’s best movies, and a sequel is in development. Hamstrung by marketing that made the time loop aspect clear, the fascinating science and great action scenes allowed the film to overcome a poor reception to become a modern classic.

GFR SCORE

From the biggest film on the list to the smallest, Timecrimes is a Spanish film from 2007 made with a budget of only $2 million that plays with the concept of time loops by having them play out simultaneously. Karra Elejalde plays Hector, a man that stumbles across a bizarre time machine experiment after being attacked by a man in the woods. The trippy narrative messes with viewers’ expectations in all the best ways and turns the genre on its head.

For a short, 90-minute film, Timecrimes makes the most of its concept with dark humor and some terrifying sequences that, by the nature of a time loop, get to be experienced over and over by both Hector and the audience. A remake by director David Cronenberg was announced in 2011, but nothing ever came of it, which is perhaps for the best.

GFR SCORE

The scariest, bloodiest film on this list, Triangle may also be the densest and one that should be seen without knowing anything about how the story plays out. Starring Melissa George as Jess, a single mother with an autistic son that heads out into the ocean with her friends on a small boat, the group is forced to switch to a different boat, which is when the problems start.

The film also stars Liam Hemsworth, and as with the later time loop movies, it’s fully in the horror camp, as the comedy of Groundhog Day is nowhere to be found. There’s a lack of jump scares, but instead, Triangle explores a much deeper horror, resulting in a film that may forever change its audience.

GFR SCORE

The Final Girls combines a time loop with the horror meta-commentary of a Scream film, which is glorious. Starring Taissa Farmiga, Nina Dobrev, Malin Ackerman, and Adam Devine, a group of friends are trapped inside a time loop inside a 1980s slasher movie. This is the perfect film for horror fans who yell at the screen when characters do something stupid.

Combining horror movie tropes with time loops has become a trend recently, but The Final Girls does it the best. Literally sticking the characters inside a movie adds to the chaos of looping and presents countless opportunities for jokes at the expense of horror movies that play it straight. Released in 2014, the film was perhaps just too strange to find an audience at the time, by as with most of these films, it’s developed a cult following in the last decade.

GFR SCORE

Happy Death Day is another slasher time loop, and again, it doesn’t take itself very seriously. Starring Jessica Rothe as Theresa “Tree” Gelbman, the doomed college co-ed that keeps getting killed by someone in a creepy baby mask, the film makes the expected referential jokes about loops before adding its twist to the formula.

Each time loop isn’t a total reset, with Tree’s body slowly breaking down from all of the damage sustained during each loop. Instead of being stuck forever, there’s a clear time limit on how many loops she can survive before dying forever. The sequel, Happy Death Day 2U, expands the first film’s mythology, explaining how the time loop happened and overcomplicating the story, making the first film the best of the pair.

GFR SCORE

Before I Fall focuses on the emotional consequence of being in a time loop, with no serial killers, no alien invasion, no threats of violence, just pure emotional damage. Starring Zoey Dutch as Samantha Kingston, a high school student re-living February 13 over and over, Before I Fall is based on the novel of the same name by Lauren Oliver.

The “I can do whatever I want” sequence comes back for this film, but fitting the setting, it’s more about “I can say whatever I want” as Samantha opens up to everyone in her life with no fear of consequences. Before I Fall explains how the time loop happened and why Samantha is stuck in it, but the journey of each loop and making personal discoveries every day is what makes this film worth the watch.