This article ranks 20 time-loop movies, from obscure remakes to iconic classics, showcasing how filmmakers have twisted the 'Groundhog Day' premise across various genres and with unique narrative innovations.
This article presents a countdown of 20 films and other media that utilize the time-loop concept, a trope famously popularized by 'Groundhog Day.' Starting at #20, 'Stork Day' is an Italian-Spanish remake of 'Groundhog Day' set in the Canary Islands. 'The Incredible Shrinking Wknd' (2019) introduces urgency by having the repeated days lose an hour each time. 'Source Code' (2011) sees Jake Gyllenhaal reliving eight minutes to prevent a bomb blast, while Rian Johnson's 'Looper' (2012) explores time-traveling hitmen. 'Before I Fall' (2017) uses the loop for a high-school student to learn empathy, and 'The Map of Tiny Perfect Things' (2021) is a cute YA romance where two teens are stuck together in a loop. Anime 'Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer' (1984) features a minor time-loop element amidst imaginative delirium. 'Happy Death Day' (2017) is a 'Groundhog slay' where a college student repeatedly dies and must find her killer. 'Mondays: See You 'This' Week!' (2022) is a Japanese workplace comedy where employees are stuck in a loop, trying to convince their boss. 'Palm Springs' (2020) explores two wedding guests trapped together, dealing with consequences and existential dread. Chris Marker's short film 'La Jetée' (1962), later remade as '12 Monkeys,' explores post-apocalyptic time travel. 'Edge of Tomorrow' (2014) brings the time loop to the battlefield with Tom Cruise. The Oscar-nominated short '12:01PM' (1990) explores the futility of a businessman reliving his lunch break. 'The Terminator' (1984) is included for its complex, self-fulfilling time paradox. Jacques Rivette's 'Céline and Julie Go Boating' (1974) features friends observing and intervening in a repeated melodrama. 'Triangle' (2009) is a maritime horror loop, full of chilling repeating imagery. 'Je T'Aime, Je T'Aime' (1968) is a tender French film about a man reliving fragments of a failed relationship. 'Groundhog Day for a Black Man' (2016) is a grimly comic short addressing racial injustice through the loop format. Christian Marclay's 'The Clock' (2010) is a 24-hour video art installation that literally functions as a timepiece through film clips. Finally, 'Groundhog Day' (1993) is hailed as the unparalleled masterpiece, a miraculous fusion of formal experiment and mainstream comedy, celebrated for its lack of explanation for the loop and its profound influence on countless imitations and adaptations.
