The Endless: Why Time Loop Horror Resonates Deeply.

I’ve been meaning to write about this topic for a while now, but I never really could find the words to truly articulate how I feel. This all started because I rewatched 2006’s Silent Hill. Not the greatest movie in the world, but the ending brought forward one of my deepest and darkest fears… being trapped the endless cycle of a loop, because I cannot imagine going through so much trauma just to realise that at the end I’m still trapped in this nightmare world. Unlike the mind-bending narrative of Christopher Nolan’s 2020 blockbuster TENET, it’s the time loops in horror that send shivers down my spine and fill me with dread.

On the surface, time loops might seem like a fun gimmick. Stuck reliving the same day? Groundhog Day made it a romcom. Happy Death Day and its sequel turned it into a slasher that was more fun than terrifying. However, for me, the horror lies not in the repetition, but in the introspection that it forces out of me.

Imagine waking up, day after day, to a reality designed to torture you. Every misstep, every regret, every buried insecurity thrown back in your face. It's a terrifying prospect, a personal hell powered by your own failings. This fear of coming face to face with who we truly are is what gets to me. I have regrets and mistakes I've healed from, but revisiting those moments and emotions is something I dread. I don’t want to see the person staring back from the mirror when the masks are stripped away.

And that's the chilling core of time loop horror. It forces us to confront the uncomfortable truth: Are we who we think we are? Are we living a life we're proud of? Am I a good person? Will I see heaven? Or am I destined for eternal suffering? The endless loop becomes a vessel, burning away pretence and forcing a brutal self-evaluation. It truly keeps me up at night; it’s a fear that digs deep within me.

That's why I find myself drawn to stories that explore this concept. Movies like Triangle (2009), directed by Christopher Smith, where the protagonist Jess finds herself trapped on a yacht in a time loop after a mysterious storm. Each loop reveals more about her character and the traumatic events that led her to this point, creating a psychological nightmare where escape seems impossible.

The Endless (2017) by Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead explores two brothers revisiting a cult they escaped from years earlier, only to discover that the cult is caught in a series of repeating time loops. This film delves into the horror of being unable to break free from a controlling, all-encompassing fate, amplifying the dread of being eternally trapped.

Salvage (2006), a British horror film directed by the Crook Brothers, features a young woman forced to relive the day of her death over and over. This looping nightmare forces her to uncover hidden truths about her life and those around her, making her confront her deepest fears and regrets.

Timecrimes (2007), a Spanish film directed by Nacho Vigalondo, presents a chilling narrative where the protagonist accidentally enters a time loop and faces multiple versions of himself. The film’s intricate plot and mounting tension highlight the horror of unintended consequences and the inescapability of one’s actions.

Arq (2016), directed by Tony Elliott, is set in a dystopian future where a couple is trapped in a time loop during a home invasion. The film’s confined setting and relentless pacing emphasize the suffocating nature of time loops and the desperation to break free.

These films, despite their fantastical premises, ground us in a very real human fear. It's the fear of stagnation, of a life on repeat, devoid of growth or progress. It's the fear of realizing we haven't lived up to our potential, a chilling reminder that time, once lost, is gone forever.

Time loop horror might not be everyone's cup of tea, but for some of us, it's a potent cocktail of terror and introspection. For me, the horror of time loops goes beyond the screen. It’s a reflection of my deepest fears… being trapped in a cycle of my own making, with no escape from my own failings. It’s the terror of perpetual self-confrontation, of being unable to escape the worst parts of myself.