Omni Loop

First off, let me give an honest up front detail about my review process: This film is really a 7.5 to me, but i rounded up instead of down like i usually do, because i feel this movie is trapped between a rock and a hard place.

This is NOT an action, or adventure film, at all, like most big Sci-fi. Kinda barely even a sci-fi film, I prefer to call it Speculative Fiction, but most of all its a drama, while also not being exactly what that implies. This movie isn't a "Family drama" but it does focus in on familial bonds, its definitely not a comedy, but it stars relatable comic actors who inject a bit of levity into the situations. Its not any of those genres But it has elements of them all. (except, to be clear, action and adventure).

To me this belongs in a genre I really love that I'm calling "Meta-Modern Speculative Fiction", and the easiest comparison is basically ALL the films of Charlie Kaufman (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Synecdoche NY, Being John Malkovich), but others that I've loved are: Visioneers, Donnie Darko, Southland Tales, Sorry to Bother You, The Lobster, Poor Things, Get Out, Nope and the Tv Shows Legion, The Last Man on Earth, Maniac, I am a Virgo, and Devs. I could list a ton more but im getting away from the point.

All this type of media tends to take a Speculative fiction concept, usually with some surreal mystery/thriller element, and apply those to a character drama, with a philosophical and/or psychosocial tone. They tend to defy genre convention by combining Elements of those genres and others, and an often wildly oscillating emotional undertone, conjuring disparate negative and positive associations along the way.

In this case its mostly a time travel character drama, a little mystery thriller, and a peppering of other momentary vibes. It obviously shares a lot of tropes with Groundhog day but it tackles those in a totally different way that fans of Time Travel narratives will appreciate because it compresses a lot of the classic moments with clever editing techniques that fans of film editing will also love.

Give it a watch if that sounds good, and if you already but you were expecting a different movie, please don't rate it poorly because it didn't match expectation, a lot of people like me want to see movies like this, and when the weirder movies tend to get downvoted due to being misunderstood it just gets tougher to find and support films like this.

Excellent and often strange look into our human lives and how time impacts them, the fear of death, and what is worth spending our time doing.

There's a slew of films lately that seem to be exploring motherhood in a smart SciFi manner. This is one of them. Mary Louise is a mom who is at the end of her life questioning what was life's meaning. There the movie takes a heavy magical SciFi tone that is more dedicated to symbolizing our struggles with significance than saying anything scientifically significant.

This is a great framing device and gimmick. Everyone seems to be handling the script well and it keeps a sort of charming patter as we discover why motherhood is the purest form of immortality.

Solid movie worth the suspension of disbelief to watch.

I am such a sucker for a good sci-fi movie especially when it involves time travel. The setup and conundrum you get within the first 10 minutes. You only have to listen to the doctor giving Zoya her prognosis to understand that we are going to be stretching reality a little bit so enjoy the ride. The use of the Groundhog Day time travel concept is not original. The use of it to save a life is not original. The message that it presents about parenthood and the choices one makes along the road of life however are wholly its own. Beautiful storytelling and the characters are well rounded and multi dimensional. As a fan of fantasy storytelling mixed with sci-fi tropes I loved it and recommend it wholeheartedly.

A very tedious movie with a theoretically interesting premise, but super badly executed. The problem is not with Marie Louise Parker who acted soporifically beautiful, but with the whole ensemble cast, family and especially that "partner" of hers who was terribly chosen. The professor was the better and more interesting character with little screen time.

That's not a sci-fi movie, that's a philosophical drama with an ounce of science-fiction.

• Screenplay/storyline/plots: 5
• Production value/impact: 4
• Development: 7
• Realism: 4
• Entertainment: 1.5
• Acting: 6
• Filming/photography/cinematography: 5.5
• VFX: 3
• Music/score/sound: 4
• Depth: 6
• Logic: 2
• Flow: 1.5
• Sci-fi/drama: 4.5
• Ending: 3.

First off, the movie is watchable. You can get to the end. You just need to turn off your expectation for answers. For those of you who like relationship and character drama, this is a great movie you'll enjoy.

This movie dangles some interesting tidbits the heavy scifi fan enjoys but would like a payoff on in explanation: a time loop, a black hole, a small man in a box who has been shrunk to subatomic levels. ALL of this is dropped halfway through for some thinking time and character development. While the plot is resolved, your questions about "why?" and "how does this work?" will go unanswered. The answers you do get will be arbitrary with little leadup to them.

Still, not a bad movie. I've seen worse with clumsier handling of science.