Omni Loop starts with a wacky idea about why a time loop is happening and then proceeds to be a too somber, mundane take on this genre. I’m not sure why it does a bait and switch, but it’s a choice.

The film is about a woman with a tiny black hole growing in her chest… which means she’ll be fine until one day she’ll just die (as opposed to being sucked violently into herself instantaneously, probably taking the planet with her… but I digress). It’s a good thing then on the day of her death, she travels back in time five days to relive it all again.

This isn’t a bad movie but it’s aggressive desire to be a somber, sodden pill does it no favors. Unlike most time loop films, it’s not a comedy (though it has some light hearted moments) nor is it end-of-the-world serious… it’s just about a sad woman reliving parts of her life and trying to solve a problem she barely understands.

The acting is quite good… Mary Louise-Parker brings a sullen, defeated moroseness to her character that’s believable. Ayo Edebiri as her assistant/partner/confused friend brings a little lightness to the film.

But, yeah, its decision to go introspective can be engaging but it also goes on too long, perhaps emulating a five day time loop? I dunno… the film has a certain repetitive sameness the longer it goes and that’s just not a lot of fun nor is it introducing particularly interesting ideas to mull over.

Omni Loop is a good experiment that just didn’t go right. It has a quirky idea that doesn’t seem to matter, leaving a less quirky entry in the time loop genre. As a time loop film, it has a decent approach but struggles to figure out what to do with it.

Score: 74