R-Rated Netflix Sci-Fi Time Travel Thriller Will Keep You Guessing

Looper was written and directed by the highly talented and extremely polarizing filmmaker Rian Johnson, who has since gone on to helm projects such as Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi, Knives Out, and Glass Onion. Johnson has also directed several episodes of the hit AMC series Breaking Bad, including both the highest and lowest rated episodes in the entire series. The film includes a stacked cast of A-list stars, including Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis, Emily Blunt, Jeff Daniels, Tracie Thoms, Piper Perabo, and The Batman‘s Paul Dano.

Rian Johnson originally conceived of Looper as a short film, and began drafting his earliest iterations of the script as far back as 2002. The movie shot in parts of Louisiana and Shanghai over the course of Winter and Spring 2011, and premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival before getting a wide theatrical release. Audiences and critics flocked to the action-packed time travel narrative, resulting in the film taking in over $176.5 million at the global box office against an estimated production budget of only $30 million.

I really can’t say too much about the plot of Looper here, because the film is loaded to the gills with wibbly wobbly, timey wimey stuff that really shouldn’t be spoiled for fresh viewers, nor explained in basic summary. Suffice is to say, the narrative centers on a contract killer named Joe, who operates with a syndicate of so-called “Loopers” who are tasked with time traveling to kill targets for silver bars. Early in the film, an elder version of Joe is tasked with traveling from 2074 to 2044 to kill his younger self, closing the loop on his legacy and ensuring that no authorities can trace his hits back to him.

Predictably, things rapidly spiral out of control within the narrative, leaving old Joe and new Joe to engage in a Gemini Man-style stand-off, that brings an intense level of excitement and enjoyability to the final cut of the film. Looper currently touts a shocking 93 percent certified fresh critic score on Rotten Tomatoes, in case you needed any further indication that the movie was a certified classic.

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For those interested in catching Looper, the film is currently streaming on Netflix. Be sure to watch the movie as soon as you can, however, as Looper is slated to depart the streaming library on August 1. Of course, if you do miss your shot at streaming the movie before the end of the month, you can always just loop back and catch it a few weeks ago, provided you don’t mind joining a team of time-traveling assassins and battling it out with your younger self.