A Glean movie guide
Stuck on Repeat
Break the cycle.
From hilarious resets to mind-bending puzzles, these are the essential time loop films.
Handpicked for this guide
The movie list
- 01
Groundhog Day
The definitive time loop masterpiece that balances cynical humor with a profound journey of self-redemption.
A cynical TV weatherman, along with his idealistic producer and his sardonic cameraman, is sent to report on Groundhog Day in the small town of Punxsutawney, where he finds himself repeating the same day over and over.
- 02
Edge of Tomorrow
A high-octane spectacle where a soldier uses a death-triggered loop to become the ultimate alien-slaying weapon.
Major Bill Cage is an officer who has never seen a day of combat when he is unceremoniously demoted and dropped into combat. Cage is killed within minutes, managing to take an alpha alien down with him. He awakens back at the beginning of the same day and is forced to fight and die again... and again - as physical contact with the alien has thrown him into a time loop.
- 03
Palm Springs
A refreshingly modern and nihilistic take on the genre featuring two wedding guests trapped in a desert resort.
When carefree Nyles and reluctant maid of honor Sarah have a chance encounter at a Palm Springs wedding, things get complicated when they find themselves unable to escape the venue, themselves, or each other.
- 04
Source Code
A tight, claustrophobic thriller that forces a soldier to solve a train bombing in recurring eight-minute bursts.
When decorated soldier Captain Colter Stevens wakes up in the body of an unknown man, he discovers he's part of a mission to find the bomber of a Chicago commuter train.
- 05
Timecrimes
A low-budget Spanish marvel of tight plotting where one man's attempt to fix a mistake creates a terrifying knot.
A man accidentally gets into a time machine and travels back in time nearly an hour. Finding himself will be the first of a series of disasters of unforeseeable consequences.
- 06
Triangle
A haunting, recursive nightmare on a deserted cruise ship that rewards viewers who watch for every small detail.
When Jess sets sail on a yacht with a group of friends, she cannot shake the feeling that there is something wrong.
- 07
Happy Death Day
A clever slasher-comedy hybrid that uses the loop mechanic to turn a victim into a detective.
Caught in a bizarre and terrifying time warp, college student Tree finds herself repeatedly reliving the day of her murder, ultimately realizing that she must identify the killer and the reason for her death before her chances of survival run out.
- 08
Run Lola Run
A high-energy exercise in style and fate that explores how tiny changes in a 20-minute dash alter everything.
Lola receives a phone call from her boyfriend Manni. He lost 100,000 DM in a subway train that belongs to a very bad guy. She has 20 minutes to raise this amount and meet Manni. Otherwise, he will rob a store to get the money. Three different alternatives may happen depending on some minor event along Lola's run.
- 09
Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes
An ingenious, one-take indie wonder that explores a two-minute feedback loop between a cafe and an apartment.
A cafe owner discovers that the TV in his cafe suddenly shows images from the future, but only two minutes into the future.
- 10
Primer
The ultimate analytical challenge for viewers who want a realistic, complex, and uncompromising look at causal loops.
A group of fledgling inventors discover a complex method to manipulate reality. At first, they successfully game the stock market with it, but the consequences of the invention start to catch up with them.
- 11
Boss Level
A loud and violent action flick that plays like a live-action video game with endless 'game over' screens.
A former special forces agent is trapped in a time loop and relives his death over and over again. To escape the terrible situation, he must track down those responsible and stop them.
- 12
The Endless
A slow-burn supernatural mystery exploring the psychological toll of being trapped in localized temporal anomalies.
Two brothers return to the cult they fled from years ago to discover that the group's beliefs may be more sane than they once thought.