The Top 10 Best Time Loop Movies

When Time Travel Movie Aren’t Enough, There Are Time Loop Movies.

Updated: April 2021

Time travel is one of the oldest plot devices in Hollywood, and it’s been used in a lot of great films over the years. However, if you really want to take things to the next level, time loop movies are where it’s at. What’s the difference? Basically, all-time loop movies are time travel films, but not all time travel films are time loop movies. To qualify for this list, a movie has to feature at least one person consciously reliving the same period of time repeatedly. The reason behind the temporal anomaly the characters find themselves trapped in doesn’t really matter much to me, and I’ll accept anything from sound scientific theories to magic to good old-fashioned dystheism. In theory, a chronal loop sounds like a fun way to ensure you have the perfect day, but reliving the same events indefinitely can get boring fast. One thing you’ll find though is that the protagonists in time loop movies always try to make the best of a bad situation, which is partially why I love them so much. With that being said, let’s check out the best time loop movies of all time. Oh, and if this list looks familiar to you, then you’re either stuck reliving the past or just a big fan of Stars & Popcorn and reread all the lists. I’m hoping it’s the latter.

10. Triangle

Time loop movies aren’t all sunshine and rainbows. In fact, there are a lot of horror films that make solid use of the plot device. As if reliving the same day repeatedly wasn’t enough of a nightmare, Triangle tosses a masked killer into the mix which is a clever way to be able to kill your characters over and over again. Triangle adds an extra level to the time loop aspect by having them overlap so the protagonist (Melissa George) catches glimpses of her future and past selves as tries to survive what has to be one of the worst movie boat outings of all time. This Venn diagram of timelines is what makes Triangle one of the more fascinating time loop movies on this list, especially since director/writer Christopher Smith offers so many creative twists and turns along the way. Just when you think you figured out what’s going on, Triangle makes you guess again.  

9. The Map of Tiny Perfect Things

I’m secure enough in my masculinity to admit that I like cute rom-coms where two quirky characters fall for each other. Sure, The Map of Tiny Perfect Things isn’t exactly high science fiction, but it’s a charming and heartwarming flick. Besides, it’s the perfect way to kick off this list of time loop movies, because of the self-aware approach Lev Grossman took with the story. Kyle Allen plays a character who’s been reliving the same day for a long time. So long that he’s started a collection of tiny perfect moments that he’s found over the 16 hours he’s awake. He’s pretty much seen it all until Kathryn Newton randomly passes through one of his moments. Ecstatic not to be alone, Allen quickly befriends Newton’s character and soon sparks are flying between the two. The Map of Tiny Perfect Things is just an all-around feel-good film that reminds us to appreciate the moments that make up our day.  

8. Predestination

Few time loop movies go for the long con quite like Predestination, and none of them push theoretical physics as far. You’re going to want pen and paper handy when you sit down to watch this movie because it gets complicated by the end. It’s really hard to talk about Predestination without any spoilers, but I’ll do my best not to ruin it for those of you who haven’t seen it yet. Ethan Hawke stars as a character who gets tied up in a time loop that runs deeper than anyone could imagine. Based on the short story, ’— All You Zombies—’ by Robert A. Heinlein, The Spierig Brothers build the film around the idea of a causal loop, which is basically where your future self makes something possible for your past or present self. It’s one of the biggest paradoxes in time travel, but Predestination knocks it out of the park. It might take a second viewing to connect all the dots, but that’s just part of what makes it one of the best time loop movies of all time.

7. Boss Level

One thing I noticed while putting together this list of time loop movies is just how popular they’ve become over the last decade. In fact, an impressive number of films that earned a spot here were released in the past five years. As popular as they’ve become, only one has an army of ruthless mercenaries, edge-of-your-seat action sequences, and Frank Grillo getting shot in the crotch. Grillo plays a former Special Forces Operator who finds himself trapped inside a time loop with a gaggle of highly trained and colorful professional killers after him. When we first meet his character, Roy Pulver, he’s figured out the gist of his situation and catches the audience up with a wise-cracking voice-over. However, Roy eventually starts putting the dots together as to how this all happened to him and redoubles his efforts to make it through the day alive. Boss Level is a fun action-adventure that adds a bit of popcorn to the time loop trope.    

6. Time Crimes

Have you ever had one of those days where everything just goes wrong, no matter how hard you try to get it right? Well, those kinds of days are made even worse in time loop movies. Héctor (Karra Elejalde) finds himself subjected to the strangest hour of his life when he comes across a masked man who stabs him in the arm. Fleeing for his life, he discovers that the mad man stole a time machine and traveled an hour into the past. Through a series of events, Héctor ends up stealing the machine himself to prevent this all from happening. This is where the time loop comes into play and it’s fascinating seeing how intertwined everything becomes by the end of the movie. Timecrimes is a brilliantly self-contained film that examines the inescapability of time and the notion that destiny and science can coexist. Sitting down to start this list, Timecrimes was one of the first films that came to mind and I knew it had to be included.