Posted By Steve Harcourt on July 16, 2013

As Sci-fi plot devices go, the ‘time loop’ is an old and trusted friend that has reappeared many times over the years.  From films and TV shows, such as: Source Code, 12:01, Groundhog Day, Tru Calling, Continuum and Doctor Who, and even with leaving the literary examples aside, it could be thought that generally most angles had been explored with not much left to say.  So, the question is: is Repeaters something we’ll want to watch again and again or is it the meal that unfortunately repeats?

Kyle (Dustin Milligan), Sonia (Amanda Crew) and Mike (Richard De Klerk) are three recovering addicts living in a rehabilitation centre run by the somewhat dubious Bob (Benjamin Ratner).  One Wednesday, near to the end of their stay, they are each given a day pass, as they need to start reconnecting with the world and the people in their lives.  This first day proves difficult for each of them, as they each encounter hostile reactions or difficult situations.  As the day closes, a storm hits, and when the power goes out, all three of them are given electric shocks.  Waking up the next day, they discover it is the very same Wednesday and they are the only ones who remember the previous version of that day.  As they come to terms with their new situation, the trio begins to explore the possibilities, both positive and negative.

As previously stated, the ‘time loop’ is an old idea. So, the first thing that I probably need to address is the cultural references that don’t seem to make any appearances in the film.  The huge one would be Groundhog Day, but beyond that I can think of several TV show stories that touch upon exactly the same material and explore it in similar ways.  At no point that I can remember in the film do they reference any of these though, even in passing, which seems odd. All I can assume is that these three people have never watched any tv or film, or that this is a parallel universe where those cultural references don’t exist.  While I may be labouring this point, it did bug me during the film, which is why I bring it up now, rather than taking the film as its own world, separate to our own.

What the film did do well is explore the different reactions you could find yourself having to such a situation.  Within the three main characters they encapsulate the most common ones you’d expect. First of all, exploring the dynamics of the phenomena and then testing its limits.  The more they push those limits though, they come up against the moral questions you’d expect, such as: if the world will be reset, are some things wrong, as they’ll essentially never have happened?  With Kyle and Mike, they have shown this dilemma quite well, as they both react to their predicament in different ways.  This moral dimension is examined well, with questions being raised on a personal and more general societal level.

As the characters come to terms with what has happened, they go through stages of confusion, futility, acceptance and then differing ideas of how to proceed.  Their individual idea of progression varies based on how they imagine the concept of consequence will be applied in their situation, with the suspension of the normal consequence paradigm releasing inner demons, revealing their true characters.  In one case, this leads to a form of madness and disconnect with the normal world, which never really gets corrected. This personal cost is a nice touch, which has been absent from some of the other recent variations on the ‘time loop’ idea. The example that springs to mind is Stargate SG:1 (S04E06) where a similar process of exploration takes place, albeit with more comedic elements, but none of the really dark moments.

Some of the cast do a very good job of portraying the changing dynamic as their world changes, especially Richard De Klerk, as Mike, while Kyle and Sonia are less well developed as characters, hindering Milligan and Crew.  Despite this, there is clearly a good chemistry between the three and aside from the main characters, there are some fine new (at least to me) actors on display here, especially Alexia Fast, which we will hopefully see in more things in the future.

The main problem with Repeaters is the end, where things are brought together in a slightly too tidy manner, and not leaving as much mess as there ought to be.  By doing this, the film finishes in a frustrating way, as one big, relatively clichéd ending does not deliver the promised conclusion that some of the previous good work has led us to expect.

While this may not be the greatest version of a ‘time loop’ concept, there are some good ideas here and, in some regards, great execution, but there are a few elements that make me question it rather than getting completely sucked into the story.  By no means is it a disaster. You could happily revisit this without too many issues.

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Categories: Movies, Reviews
Tags: 12:01, addicts, Alexia Fast, Amanda Crew, Benjamin Ratner, choices, Continuum, Doctor Who, Dustin Milligan, family, Groundhog Day, loop, morality, rehabilitation, Repeaters, Richard De Klerk, sci-fi, Source Code, Stargate, time loop, Tru Calling