Starring: Maisie Richardson-Sellers, Shannon Woodward, Rosaline Elbay, Shein Mompremier
Director: Kelley Kali
Country: USA
UK Distributor: Disney+
Billie (Richardson-Sellers) is suffering from strange flashbacks and unexpected visions, seemingly related to the appearance of a mysterious new girlfriend, Alex (Woodward). As she begins to realise that she’s stuck in a series of time loops, she tries to piece together what is the true version of reality.
It’s very difficult not to compare this to the iconic Groundhog Day, but it does manage to play with a very similar cyclical structure without becoming too repetitive. Unlike its archetype, this is a thriller, with clues left like a disjointed (and jagged) trail of breadcrumbs. We see Billie slowly trying to piece them together, but it doesn’t really make sense how she begins to break this cycle and how her manipulator doesn’t notice. And that’s not the only plot-hole in a film that’s peppered with pointless red herrings and details that distract from the narrative.
It is easy to follow, but its relentless fragmented editing is disorienting at best and (later) annoying at worst. And while this isn’t the first film to reinvent the time-loop story - hello Palm Springs - it’s probably the worst version to get a mainstream release. And while it does get kudos for being incidentally lesbian without making a song and dance about it, that’s undermined by just how eye-rollingly unlikeable its villain actually is.
UK Release: Out now to watch on VOD on Disney+
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