It has been almost a year since I’ve rambled about one of my favorite games: I was a Teenage Exo Colonist. And to this day, I’m still obsessed with time loops, whether they cover a few years, like the game, a week, or the classic groundhog situation, where just the day is repeating. Except time loops in the horror genre give the groundhog a knife. I’m still going through my horror movie list this month, but to offset it for those interested in media without such doom and gloom, there are some other time loop stories that I think are quite neat. However, I will be starting with horror first 🙂 

Re/Member

[ Directed by Eiichirô Hasumi | 2022 | TV-MA | 1:42 | Japanese Body Horror | Netflix ]

Solve the puzzle to escape the loop. Pretty simple instructions that were never given to this group of high school students being held hostage by a nasty ghost. And the puzzle is finding and putting together the pieces of the corpse belonging to the ghost’s last victim. This is the live-action adaptation of the manga series titled “カラダ探し (Karada Sagashi)” and the sequel “Karada Sagashi: The Last Night” recently aired in Japanese theaters back in September, with no current news of a universal release in the works. 

Happy Death Day

[ Directed by Christopher Landon | 2017 | PG-13 | 1:36 | Dark Comedy, slasher ] 

Tree Gelbman, a wonderfully insufferable college student, has to solve a few mysteries on her birthday while dealing with a hangover. First, why is she repeating the day, and second, who is the masked stranger murdering her at the end of every loop? This and the fun sequel “Happy Death Day 2U” are just such silly films. I’m a little upset that this never got a third film like the writers planned.

Until Dawn

[ 2025 Directed by David F. Sandberg | 2025 | R | 1:43 | Psychological horror ]

Clover tries to retrace the steps of her sister a year after she went missing. Her friends are hesitant to help her on this journey, yet they do it anyway. On their way to the very last place she was seen, they get trapped at a lodge. And then the loop begins. All of them are given a choice to either “survive the night, or become a part of it.”

Sharing the same name as the cool 2015 interactive survival horror game, this film is sadly cursed by unoriginality. I am sorry to start this suggestion with a negative statement. If you have no connection to the game, then you have a much better chance of enjoying this film. Until Dawn had potential if it wasn’t marketed 

And now, the less scary time loop stories. Most of these centered on self-discovery without the impending doom of being in a slasher film. However, these still deal with loss and grief as they are repeating the very last day or the very last moment they had with one person.

The Map of Tiny Perfect Things

[ Directed by Ian Samuels | 2021 | PG-13 | Teen romantic comedy ]

Mark has gotten quite used to being in a time loop, but before he reaches total boredom with the repetitive nature of the day, he meets Margaret. I have to rewatch this soon because this was such a sweet movie starring Katherine Newton and Kyle Allen. I had watched this during my phase of “I need to see every movie starring this specific person” phase, and while that has faded, I still adore Katheryn Newton in anything.

Russian Doll

[ 2019-2022 | Netflix Series | TV-MA | Two seasons | Dark comedy ]

Nadia keeps reliving the event of her 36th birthday party, and the further she tries to stray from repeating the loop, the more ridiculous her death is. The investigation of why she gets in the loop is also strange, but everything about it relates to spoilers, and while this has a second session that has a twist to the time manipulation, there sadly isn’t a third season.

Opposite of Always

[ Written by Justin A Reynolds | Published 2019 | Young Adult Romance ]

When Jack reluctantly goes to a party, he doesn’t expect to meet Kate. Yet he does, and soon they fall in love, then she dies. The night of her passing, Jack goes back in time to the first day they met. And such the loop begins. It’s not meant to be a plot twist that Kate has sickle-cell, and a health flare mixed with bad timing results in her passing. Jack also has some personal stuff to go through because he starts off with no ambitions in life, and that’s hilarious. Overall, this novel covers death and medical trauma in some heavy ways, but the author writes these scenes super well.

And that is all.