Omni Loop presents an intriguing premise. Zoya Lowe (Mary-Louise Parker), a brilliant quantum physicist, finds herself caught in a time loop while a mysterious black hole grows in her chest. Yes, you read that correctly. Zoya also has just one week to live, but the troubled woman already knows that because she’s been repeatedly experiencing this very “last” week of her life for quite some time. In fact, she’s lost track of just how many times she’s endured her very own Groundhog Day (or week, rather).
In an attempt to survive her dilemma, Zoya leans into these peculiarities, but alas, she can’t find a cure for her mysterious predicament and illness — until one day, when she meets a gifted student named Paula (the ubiquitous Ayo Edebiri). Teaming up, the duo embarks on saving Zoya’s life and unlocking the mysteries of time travel in the process. Several quantum detours filter into the mix in director/writer Bernardo Britto’s inviting outing that successfully manages to marry an existential drama with sci-fi tension and lure in everybody from Marvel Cinematic Universe fans to Charlie Kaufman devotees.
Still, Britto, who won audiences over with his short films and writing on Julio Torres’ highly acclaimed HBO series Los Espookys, requests that his audience practice patience. Omni Loop, like its main character, Zoya, must wait things out before the proverbial “ah has” kick in, but when they do, the film becomes all the more enjoyable. Smart, sharp, and inventive, the film wins you over. That’s a great thing for a genre that’s suddenly in need of a makeover.
Not All Time Loops Are Created Equal
From the get-go, Omni Loop immediately establishes its quirky tone. You quickly catch on to its storytelling rhythm. Quick cuts and precision editing nicely establish the dilemma at hand. As family members hover above Zoya in her hospital bed, the woman is unmoved emotionally when she wakes up. She’s been here before. Perhaps more medicine will help. Soon enough, we discover that Zoya has actually been taking time travel pills. (Just go with it.) Ultimately, she has repeatedly been taken back five days earlier, where her main mission is to avoid the same frustrating pitfalls that previously befell her.
She’ll have to overstep then the sudden alarm from people she’s already encountered, chief among them a brilliant student named Paula, with whom she forms an unlikely alliance. The filmmaker offers something refreshing in their union, deepening their bond each time Zoya and Paula reconnect. The script could have otherwise sidestepped building this relationship and leaned more into the allure of Zoya’s trippy circumstances instead. What it chooses to do, though, offers the film some heart.
Experiencing it, it’s as if writer/director Bernardo Britto took hallucinogens and injected the pure cinema of Edge of Tomorrow, Groundhog Day, and Adaptation, and this was its surprisingly grounded “trip.” What also makes this film so inviting is that it doesn’t overstep or attempt to wow you with special effects, although when those do appear, they’re fabulously modest.
The Relatable Life Experiences of Omni Loop
Considering the sometimes heady and existential subjects of Omni Loop —life, mortality, legacy, meaning — this is a story many people can relate to, particularly for those who’ve pondered the concept of death or have tangentially experienced it through some devastating permanent loss. Those themes make the film feel more melancholic than optimistic, even when the optimism does arrive.
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This isn’t a bad thing, however. The writer/director himself initially set out to make a quick, fun, sci-fi romp about dying. The deeper he got into the project, he realized there was much more depth to explore. That said, it took six years to write the film before it got into the hands of Mary-Louise Parker and Ayo Edebiri. The stellar stars of Weeds and The Bear, respectively, make Omni Loop work mainly because they so naturally make their characters and the choices they make so believable.
Captures Life-and-Death Themes
Clearly, comic/actor/director Edebiri is having a moment. Her fine work in The Bear is not a “fluke.” And while she only has so much to work with creatively in the character of Paula here, Edebiri proves she could easily hold her own movie entirely. And Parker, who has wooed us so many times before (from Fried Green Tomatoes, through The West Wing, and into Weeds), knocks it out of the park. To be sure, this actress is one of the finest of her generation because she so realistically breathes life into her characters. Here, Zoya is a brainiac, but she’s also filled with vulnerability and uncertainty. It’s a powerful tour du force performance by Parker.
Omni Loop also stars Carlos Jacott (Psych) as Zoya’s devoted husband, and Hannah Pearl Utt (Disengaged) as the couple’s adult daughter, Jayne, and Chris Witaske (The Bear) as Jayne’s fiancé. They aren’t given too much to do, however, because the film zeroes in on the Parker/Edebiri pairing. But the film isn’t designed to linger in extended family scenes. The ones that the filmmaker executes perfectly move the story along, creating much needed context along the way, but doesn’t waste time with fluff.
You’ll have to forgo getting a bona fide explanation about how, really, Zoya, is capable of reliving her curious week. Your best bet is to savor the “unknowingness” of it all, because it creates exactly what the director may have intended: a time to reflect, reconsider one’s actions, and relinquish emotional chains that tend to keep us stuck. And all while not being overly preachy in the process. It may take some time to fully feel captivated by this tale, but when you do, Omni Loop becomes refreshingly moving, thought-provoking, and altogether exciting. Omni Loop arrives in theaters and on digital September 20.
