# 'Groundhog Day' inspired movies/series **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [February 10, 2021, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/groundhog-day-inspired-movies-series/932592 "2021-02-10T10:58:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tusculan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@Tusculan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tusculan)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2021, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/groundhog-day-inspired-movies-series/932592/1 "2021-02-10T10:58:49Z")
Big fan of Groundhog Day. I also found that I really like many movies and series that were inspired by the same mechanic. That is: protagonist experiencing same day over and over, without being able to stop it. That is to distinguish it from time travel movies where the person is in full control of the loop. In a number of threads posters recommended other movies and series with the same mechanic, and I though we might try to compile a master list and have some fun discussion as well. Groundhog Day. No introduction needed. [Happy Death Day](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5308322): this was a fun movie. Even though I usually avoid horror, I didn’t mind the slight gore (not much worse than many police procedurals or action movies nowadays). A college student is killed on her birthday, again and again. [Edge of Tomorrow](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1631867): Tom Cruise doesn’t get in the way of the plot. Emily Blunt does a great job as bad-ass soldier. [12 Dates of Christmas (2011 movie)](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1846442): this is really a Hallmark-type of movie, but the Groundhog plot device improves it a lot. About a woman repeating her date the day before Christmas. [Arq](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5640450): this is more of a time travel movie, but does match the requirements. Somewhat bleak thriller in a post-apocalyptic setting (for budgetary reasons mainly in a small building with a few rooms). Good watch though. One of the main characters also played the TV presentator friend of Jessica Jones. [Russian Doll](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7520794): very enjoyable Netflix original series about a female programmer in her thirties stuck in a loop, dying every day. Moody New York atmosphere. I know there are TV-series that devoted a single episode to this trope. For example [Xena, s3e2](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0751458/) (Been there, done that). ---
**Author:** ![CardboardBoxx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardboardboxx/32/7079_2.png) [@CardboardBoxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CardboardBoxx)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2021, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/groundhog-day-inspired-movies-series/932592/2 "2021-02-10T11:10:11Z")
12:01, somewhat contemprary with Groundhog Day, > **[12:01 (TV Movie 1993) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106188/)** > > 12:01: Directed by Jack Sholder. With Jonathan Silverman, Helen Slater, Nicolas Surovy, Robin Bartlett. A man likes a woman at work. He sees her get murdered. He gets drunk and zapped at 12:01AM. Next morning she's back and everything is exactly like... ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2021, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/groundhog-day-inspired-movies-series/932592/3 "2021-02-10T11:17:11Z")
Most famously, Nietsche was on about this, though of course it was hardly an original idea mutatis mutandis. > [@Tusculan](#): > > [Arq](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5640450): this is more of a time travel movie, but does match the requirements. Somewhat bleak thriller in a post-apocalyptic setting (for budgetary reasons mainly in a small building with a few rooms). So no relation at all to the original comic book _Arq_ ? Which I did not care for though apparently some people like it. ---
**Author:** ![Tusculan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@Tusculan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tusculan)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2021, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/groundhog-day-inspired-movies-series/932592/4 "2021-02-10T11:37:24Z")
I don’t 'believe it is based on a comic book, I quickly checked the Arq comic book series and that seems to be unrelated. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2021, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/groundhog-day-inspired-movies-series/932592/5 "2021-02-10T11:52:50Z")
There is of course a [Wiki page for this](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_films_featuring_time_loops), although it’s not comprehensive. I’ve also been getting ads for a new Amazon film called “The Map of Tiny Perfect Things”, which appears to be a romcom featuring two teens stuck in a timeloop. (Also, _Russian Doll_ is **awesome**.) ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanubv.2/32/3260_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUBv.2)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2021, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/groundhog-day-inspired-movies-series/932592/6 "2021-02-10T12:31:12Z")
[Palm Springs](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9484998/) is a fun take on the genre. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2021, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/groundhog-day-inspired-movies-series/932592/7 "2021-02-10T12:36:13Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > There is of course a [Wiki page for this](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_films_featuring_time_loops), although it’s not comprehensive. Great list. It has all of the ones I was going to mention plus more that I’ll want to see. So I’ll go with the TV series example that came to mind: the “Endless Eight” arc of \* The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya\*. > **[Endless Eight](https://haruhi.fandom.com/wiki/Endless_Eight)** > > You may be looking for the Endless Eight episodes of the anime: Endless Eight - Part 1 Endless Eight - Part 2 Endless Eight - Part 3 Endless Eight - Part 4 Endless Eight - Part 5 Endless Eight - Part 6 Endless Eight - Part 7 Endless Eight - Part 8... ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2021, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/groundhog-day-inspired-movies-series/932592/8 "2021-02-10T12:40:16Z")
Well, “Boss Level” with Mel Gibson supposedly has the time loop/life is a video game level plot, though I have not seen it yet so cannot say precisely. Dying over and over again, video-game style was basically already in _Rogue Moon_ in 1960. ---
**Author:** ![YamatoTwinkie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/cc9497/32.png) [@YamatoTwinkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YamatoTwinkie)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2021, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/groundhog-day-inspired-movies-series/932592/9 "2021-02-10T13:51:55Z")
Doesn’t meet OP’s criteria, but the videogame “Outer Wilds” (one of my favorite games of the last decade) revolves around the main character stuck in a time loop, 22 minutes before the sun goes supernova. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2021, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/groundhog-day-inspired-movies-series/932592/10 "2021-02-10T13:54:27Z")
It wasn’t clear to me if the OP did or didn’t want single episode examples from TV, but the Star Trek TNG episode “Cause and Effect” has the Enterprise caught in a time loop that resets after the destruction of the ship. ---
**Author:** ![Tusculan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@Tusculan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tusculan)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2021, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/groundhog-day-inspired-movies-series/932592/11 "2021-02-10T14:06:40Z")
If you know about single episodes of TV shows, that’'s interesting as well. I was not really clear as I’m also not sure how often that is found. I’m less interested in cases where a time loop is only a small part of the plot, such as in the Buffy episode _Life serial_. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2021, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/groundhog-day-inspired-movies-series/932592/12 "2021-02-10T16:38:15Z")
There was a sequel to Happy Death Day. Also a time loop. There’s a Netflix comedy called “Naked” that’s a time loop on a guy’s wedding day. “About Time” is a romantic comedy that’s _not_ a person stuck in a time loop, but the main character is able to time travel, so there are a few “repeat this bit to get it right” sequences. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2021, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/groundhog-day-inspired-movies-series/932592/13 "2021-02-10T16:49:19Z")
_Stargate SG-1_ did a Groundhog Day episode, “[Window of Opportunity](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Window_of_Opportunity_(Stargate_SG-1)),” in their fourth season. O’Neill and Teal’c are the ones who are aware of (and have to keep reliving) the time loop; as Wikipedia notes: > [@](#): > > After many loops of teaching, Daniel makes an offhand remark about events that occur during each loop having no consequences once the loop is over, which inspires O’Neill and Teal’c to indulge in wildly outrageous behavior as a means of dealing with the boredom and frustration of being caught in repeating time. The pair play golf through the active Stargate (much to General Hammond’s irritation in at least one loop), Teal’c takes action against the painful starts of his loops by slamming the door back in the face of the airman who accidentally hit him with it in the beginning of each loop, O’Neill tries pottery-making (clearly improving with each progressive loop), bicycles through the base, and just before the end of one loop, resigns from the Air Force whilst wearing an outrageous sweatshirt for the sole purpose of grabbing Carter and kissing her in the seconds before the loop resets. ---
**Author:** ![Nicest\_of\_the\_Damned](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/8baadc/32.png) [@Nicest\_of\_the\_Damned](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nicest_of_the_Damned)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2021, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/groundhog-day-inspired-movies-series/932592/14 "2021-02-10T17:54:46Z")
Source Code is not a time loop movie but I think it fits in this category. Don’t want to say too much about it so as not to spoil but I thought it was a decent movie. ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2021, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/groundhog-day-inspired-movies-series/932592/15 "2021-02-10T17:57:38Z")
> [@CardboardBoxx](#): > > 12:01, somewhat contemprary with Groundhog Day, _12:01_ is what I came here to say. I really enjoyed it, and ended up buying it. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2021, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/groundhog-day-inspired-movies-series/932592/16 "2021-02-10T18:04:22Z")
From [the TV Tropes entry](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GroundhogDayLoop), I really want to see this: Let’s Make a Deal did this on a Groundhog Day episode, no less. After every commercial break, the opening spiels were repeated, and the exact same contestant was brought down to play the exact same deal. However, the deal went farther every time it was played. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2021, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/groundhog-day-inspired-movies-series/932592/17 "2021-02-10T18:08:59Z")
_Star Trek Discovery_ did it in " Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad" in the first season, probably the best episode that year. _Legends of Tomorrow_ had “Here I Go Again.” In the “Meglos” episode of _Doctor Who,_ the Doctor got caught in a chronic hysteresis (i.e., a time loop) but it only lasted for a few minutes before he figured it out and escaped. ---
**Author:** ![SoToasty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sotoasty/32/2803_2.png) [@SoToasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SoToasty)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2021, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/groundhog-day-inspired-movies-series/932592/18 "2021-02-10T18:44:42Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > In the “Meglos” episode of _Doctor Who,_ the Doctor got caught in a chronic hysteresis (i.e., a time loop) but it only lasted for a few minutes before he figured it out and escaped. I’ll add the episode Heaven Sent, where the Doctor is trapped in his “Confession Dial”. Not just a few minutes this time, but 4.5 billion years. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2021, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/groundhog-day-inspired-movies-series/932592/19 "2021-02-10T19:17:11Z")
I forgot the most obvious example, which predated the movie by five years: _Replay_ by Ken Grimwood. > **[Replay (Grimwood novel)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Replay_(Grimwood_novel))** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > Replay is a fantasy novel by American writer Ken Grimwood, first published by Arbor House in 1986. It won the 1988 World Fantasy Award for Best Novel. > The novel tells of a 43-year-old man who dies and wakes up back in 1963 in his 18-year-old body. He relives his life with all his memories of the previous 25 years intact. This happens repeatedly, with the man playing out his life differently in each cycle. The novel was a bestseller in Japan. Its ... It is a truly great novel. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2021, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/groundhog-day-inspired-movies-series/932592/20 "2021-02-10T20:05:23Z")
Another couple of Doctor Whos. [Carnival of Monsters](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnival_of_Monsters), the TARDIS lands on a ship, the Doctor and Jo are accused of being stowaways, then a sea monster attacks the ship. This happens over and over again, with the sailors and passengers not remembering the previous iterations. [The Armageddon Factor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Armageddon_Factor), A device is supposed to stop time in the Universe, but actually causes time to loop. The loop starts at a few seconds long, and gradually stretches to a few minutes long. Also, a novel [The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_First_Fifteen_Lives_of_Harry_August), somewhat similar to Replay above. A man relives his entire life from birth to death over and over again. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/groundhog-day-inspired-movies-series/932592.md?page=2)