Editor’s Note:  Since we’re all stuck inside and are experiencing the same day over and over again, Film Goblin is going to be taking a look at a variety of films that explore the concept of a “loop”, similar to Groundhog Day. If you have a loop movie for us to review please leave it in the comments below.


Generally-Speaking, I Enjoy Loop Stories

There is something intriguing about being able to experience the same day over and over. Perhaps it is people’ tendency to dwell on past mistakes and imagine what they would do differently to get everything right.

I wonder what I would do if I had to loop the same day over and over again, doing the exact same things, waking up at the same time, going to the same place, seeing the same people, etc…

Egad, that is my normal existence! I’m trapped in a time loop already!

Happy Death Day 2U

The first Happy Death Day combined Groundhog Day with a slasher movie.

A girl finds herself trapped in a time loop and restarts the day every time she is murdered by the killer. The movie had a comedic tone, and was amusing in its own way.

Did Happy Death Day 2U build on the first with a worthy sequel?

Unfortunately, it was merely Pre-Tay Good.

One Pre-Tay is disappointing.

It appears everyone is having fun in the film. Plus, Jessica Rothe has some likeable acting chops, but the sum of the movie’s parts do not add up to a pleasing whole.

First Problem: Focus!

The movie opens on an Asian Dude and spends about 20 minutes with him as the main character. Then the film suddenly switches to Jessica Rothe as the main character.

The change is a bit jarring. Plus, the story totally discards a plotline it opened up by revealing a duplicate Asian Dude.

Second Problem: Stop ‘Spaining

They explain what caused the loop in the first film, and it is about as standard an explanation as you could guess. If I told you a time loop happens on a college campus and asked you to guess what caused it, would you guess science lab and experiment?

You know you would…

Primer Movie Explained | Timeline & Ending - The Cinemaholic

Third problem: Stop Exploring

Somewhere along the line, the slasher/solution aspect of the movie is completely waylaid, and Happy Death Day 2U becomes about saying goodbye to a lost loved one and, to a lesser extent, reacquiring a love interest.

It turned into a legit tearjerker

How much so? So much so, that my wife watched and actually started crying. THAT is how waylaid the slasher/solution aspect of the movie became.

This then led me to fear that my wife would want to put those tears into words to express how she felt about a variety of things that would result in one hour of me nodding and “uh-huhing” my way around emotional landmines.

This is not how such films are supposed to work.

Fourth Problem: Too Much Busy Work

the movie got splintered. Characters go to one place in a hurry, then say they need to go someplace else and will be back later, repeatedly. It is a loop movie, so some of that is to be expected, but it becomes tedious.

The whole movie is like a person pretending to be busy when their boss walks in.

They even throw in a fake-blind, fake-French-girl comedy act out of nowhere. The movie felt like it needed another rewrite to tighten it down.

Happy Death Day 3 Isn't Happening, and That's Disappointing – /Film

Fifth Problem: Who?

The killer reveal was not interesting because the killer didn’t even feel like a secondary element to the story. The killer felt like a thirdinary element, maybe even fourthinary element.

Do you have a favorite loop movie? Drop it in the comments below and maybe we’ll do a review of it!