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The time loop or temporal loop is a plot device in fiction whereby characters re-experience a span of time which is repeated, sometimes more than once, with some hope of breaking out of the cycle of repetition.
- Groundhog Day. Bill Murray, Andie MacDowell, Chris Elliott. 619 votes. This iconic comedy stars Bill Murray as a cynical weatherman who inexplicably becomes trapped in an endless cycle of reliving the same day over and over again.
- Edge Of Tomorrow. Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt, Brendan Gleeson. 634 votes. In this thrilling sci-fi adaptation of the Japanese novel All You Need Is Kill, an inexperienced public affairs officer finds himself caught in a cycle of dying and resurrecting while combating alien invaders.
- Palm Springs. Andy Samberg, Cristin Milioti, J.K. Simmons. 308 votes. This fresh and inventive romantic comedy follows two strangers who meet at a wedding and become involuntarily entwined within a mysterious and seemingly infinite time loop.
- 12 Monkeys. Bruce Willis, Madeleine Stowe, Brad Pitt. 311 votes. This dystopian sci-fi masterpiece tells the story of a convict sent back in time to gather information about an apocalyptic virus, which leads him to cross paths with various eccentric characters in his quest for the truth.
A time loop is a situation in which a period of time is repeated, sometimes several times, in books and films. Learn more about the meaning, pronunciation and translations of time loop from Cambridge Dictionary.
- “Cause and Effect,” Star Trek: The Next Generation (1992) Remembering that this episode aired nearly a year before the movie Groundhog Day came out, I think it’s fair to give this hour the credit for kicking off an entire sub-sub-genre of time loop movies and TV episodes.
- Russian Doll (2019— ) The best time loop narratives tend to go beyond the sci-fi wonkery of the premise to make the case that we’re very often our own worst enemies, and that we’re ultimately to blame for the ruts we find ourselves in.
- The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (2006) Yasutaka Tsutsui’s 1965 novel of the same name is often cited as an early (and popular) use of a time loop narrative, and it’s been adapted multiple times in Japan.
- Happy Death Day (2017) A surprisingly smart slasher (in spite of the silly title), Happy Death Day introduces mean girl Tree Gelbman (Jessica Rothe) who wakes up in the dorm room of her nerdy classmate after a very drunken night of partying.
- What Is The Time Loop Trope?
- Why Does This Trope Work?
- What Are Some Examples of This Trope?
When a character re-experiences a span of time they are stuck in a time loop. Typically, there is an event or a condition met that will reset the loop, such as a character death. Characters may react differently to their circumstances but, in most media, they end up focusing on figuring out a way to end this endless cycle.
It’s a formula many people know well: characters wake up and realize they are experiencing the same exact day as they did yesterday. With a set of general rules and expectations, it can be fun for writers and consumers of media to place different characters in a time loop. It can be applied to many different genres as well, such as horror, comedy, ...
Replay By Ken Grimwood
In this novel, a man wakes up after his death to find himself back in the body of his 18 year old self. (Also check out The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August, which has a similar plot).
Pretty in Punxsutawney By Laurie Boyle Crompton
High school senior, Andie, gets stuck reliving her first day of school. Convinced that finding true love will break the loop, Andie attempts joining different cliques at the school.
The Seven 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle By Stuart Turton
Aiden Bishop must identify the killer of Evelyn Hardcastle in order to stop her from dying in each, repeated day. However: Aiden wakes up in a different body everyday.
Feb 22, 2019 · Time loop stories offer characters the chance to press that button. Though the loop in which they find themselves is, more likely than not, unwelcome. In the Netflix series Russian Doll, Nadia spends her birthday laboriously trying not to die, only to relive the beginning of her party.
Feb 2, 2021 · From 'Groundhog Day' to 'Palm Springs,' the narrative trope of the time loop has inspired countless great stories. We picked 18 favorites.
