‘Penalty Loop’ Is Another Unforgettable Time Loop Gem From Japan

My favorite new release in 2023 was Junta Yamaguchi’s River, a sweet, simple, and affecting time loop comedy about recognizing and valuing the moment we’re in at any given time. At the risk of feeling like I’m in some kind of temporal rift myself, it looks like one of my favorite new releases of 2024 is… another brilliantly crafted time loop tale from Japan? Shinji Araki‘s Penalty Loop is a thrilling, surprising, and very funny genre blender with real heart beating at its center.

It’s a typical morning as Jun (Ryûya Wakaba) gives his girlfriend a kiss before she heads out the door to work. The serenity is shattered, though, when she’s found dead in a river hours later, the victim of an apparent murder, and the killer is arrested nearby. Life goes on, and we watch Jun at work, but what looks to be a normal day takes a turn when he kills a coworker named Mizoguchi (Yûsuke Iseya), dumps the body in a nearby lake, and heads home. He’s understandably confused when he wakes the next morning, kisses his girlfriend goodbye, discovers she’s been murdered, and once again kills his coworker. And then he has to do it again. And again. He’s caught in a loop, and he knows it, but it turns out Mizoguchi knows he’s in a time loop too.

Penalty Loop is an absolute and utter joy of a film. Araki juggles genres like Steve Martin’s 1995-2005 filmography, moving between thrills, drama, comedy, and various genre conventions to deliver something truly special. Set pieces grow increasingly absurd as Mizoguchi’s awareness grows, but suspense and wonder are maintained throughout even as it all shifts into something more emotional and unexpectedly human. Grief is a real bitch, and watching Jun essentially work through the stages of it with creative bloodshed walks the fine line between entertaining and affecting.

The big risk with time loop movies is that the repetitiveness will begin to feel, well, repetitive. Seeing the same beats again and again quickly grows tiresome, but Araki deftly sidesteps that concern by skipping past the mundane moments and letting the rest evolve. Jun has to change up his approach as his target becomes suspicious, and then things shift even more as it becomes apparent that something else — something bigger — is at play here. Each new turn and reveal brings a smile, a laugh, and an appreciation for Christopher Nolan-worthy mindfuckery on a budget.

Araki’s direction and script are the motor here, but Penalty Loop‘s two lead performances keep things humming and hold our attention every bit as strongly. Wakaba gives us a broken man lost in sorrow, while Iseya plays his character’s confusion turned realization with a grounded empathy. The more we learn about these two, about their connection and why this is happening, the more we’re forced to think about what it means to lose someone and what’s necessary to move forward after they’re gone. The film isn’t aiming for anything truly profound or deep on the subject, but it doesn’t need to as the ideas it’s playing with are still thought-provoking and real.

Fair warning, there are several reviews out there for Penalty Loop that spoil what exactly is happening here, and that’s just unfortunate. While Araki’s film still works beautifully on repeat viewings, there’s an undeniable thrill to putting the pieces together and discovering the reveals in real time, so read carefully out there! You’ll get none of that bullshit here, but I will say that the reveals in the back half find their own originality from some very familiar parts. It’s important to remember, though, that the tools — the “how” of it all — are often far less important than the “why” and the “what comes next.”

By the time Penalty Loop speeds into its third act, the odds are quite good that it won’t be heading where you’re expecting. That’s a good thing, and the whiplash you’ll experience moving from somber and exciting to hilarious and meditative will leave you feeling more than just satisfied with a fun ride — you’ll also feel a little more hopeful about the people we let in during our time on this rock called Earth. It’s a small thing, perhaps, but life is what we make it, and that’s a truth we should never forget.

The 28th edition of the Fantasia International Film Festival runs July 18th to August 4th in beautiful Montreal, Quebec. Follow along with our coverage here.