When I was looking at the cast I thought, oh no not another teenager flick like Twilight or that kind of trash. I have nothing against teenager flicks, I liked Red Riding Hood and Jennifer's Body, but I have something against flicks that are about nothing just some love story. But when I saw Michael (Richard De Klerk) I remembered him from the 4400 series, and the face of Amanda Crew did ring a bell too, Final Destination 3. Dustin Milligan, the third main lead I knew from The Messengers so I knew they could deliver their stuff. And they did, the performances are excellent and you really believe the characters. Somehow the story reminded me of Triangle. You better have full attention to understand it all. It's an excellent flick not only for teens but also for Sci-Fi freaks and for people who can dig thrillers. I won't go that far to say it's a drama because the Sci-Fy takes the main part. It's never explained what has happened to them but the story is strong enough to let you forget that. Their is some red stuff in it, not that it's creepy or anything but it can offend the people with weak stomachs. So it's a bit for everybody, or did I repeat myself?
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trashgang22 September 2011
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zevt28 April 2016This movie tries to take the 'Groundhog Day' idea into darker territory, with three recovering drug-addicts in rehab getting to live a bad day over and over again, until, presumably, they get something right.
Besides the dark edge, this movie also promises interesting developments by having three friends go through it together in different ways. At first, and after the confusion, they have wild fun with it and even hold up a liquor store. But then two of them start introspecting when they have to deal with their families and a suicidal jumper. The third, however, seeing the endless hate his father has for him, decides to give up and give in to the dark side of his insecurities, and turns to a nihilistic life of brutal crime, since there are no consequences to his actions anyways.
So it starts becoming interesting, and in a sense, they become god-like beings that can get away with anything, except that the more conscience-laden duo now also have a 'super-villain' on their hands to deal with, while the regular world suffers the consequences.
But then it stops being interesting, fizzles out, and just ends.
Their attempts at stopping him never become creative (for example, they don't even bother finding out who starts their day first by a few seconds, thus giving that person a slight edge). Their time-loop and personal dramas are solved with only a couple of lazy pop-psychology revelations and confessions. The development of the bad guy is way too fast and extreme - it could have worked if they had to repeat a hundred times or so, but to turn into a suicidal-rapist-murderer within 3-4 days is a bit much. And their 'thoughtful' introspection about consequences for their actions ends abruptly when one guy says: 'I need it to mean something'. Way to go, Schopenhauer.
And so on. It just doesn't develop its ideas in any way. And then there's the ending where the bad guy gets to repeat himself, while the rest move on. If you think about it, since none of them see any meaning in their lives and its only about whether they get caught or feel bad for their family, the ending means that the bad guy gets to live it up without consequences, and the good guys have to live with their consequences and bad decisions. So even the faux-moral ending is a product of muddled and lazy thinking. Lazy movie-making does not produce great movies. -
Spacebaby126 January 2012This remake of Groundhog Day has some things to recommend it. It is not the greatest movie ever made, and it is skating the clichés. You have to have some guts to remake a big successful movie, and work the clichés and not drop into crap movie territory. This movie remains a good solid flick. It takes advantage firstly of an implicit nondescript but plaintive Canadian tone, which reminded me of Atom Egoyan's 'Exotica' or 1989's 'Roadkill.' It looks American, but little things scream that it isn't. Interesting, and this kept the film from becoming hackneyed and obvious.
On top of this, I thought solid acting from the 3 leads and supporting actors, especially Alexia Fast, allowed some of this peculiar non-American tone of introspection to surface. The three leads all had clear trajectories, and I think de Klerk really anchored them. The acting was not over the top and it stayed forlorn and gritty, even when two characters are redeemed. It is likely that the characters have already left the mortal plane, at the beginning of the film, so their experiences are basically spiritual - but their mortal free will remains. I thought they could have gone deeper with the purgatory idea - especially the day after Sonia comes back the first time. It would have been intriguing to pursue de Klerk's descent.
Instead of going deeper into what was happening on a spiritual level, the director opted to keep the action going, and keep the film clipping along at a good pace. What it lost in depth, it gained somewhat in some good physical acting between de Klerk and Milligan. Milligan in particular settled by the end of the film into the central role, a kind of scrapped up gilded hero that made him really look like Hollywood star material. But I don't think he could have gotten there without de Klerk, Crew and Fast supporting him.
Crew did a very nice job of opening up. Her intimate scenes with Milligan were extremely well done - touching and not contrived. They cultivated some gentleness and actual on screen chemistry. She faced a similar connundrum to Heather Donahue in 'Blair Witch' - a low grade wardrobe role where a girl with the same hat on all the way through has to become the psychological and emotional catalyst for two males.
All in all, some choppy bits, but a good enough film that got the job done. It could have been deeper, could have been more big budget and glossier, but frankly only the former would have made the pretty good performances here even better. -
AlanMichaelElliott21 August 2011The cast and crew of this film know what it takes to make an interesting movie. I was quite surprised to discover it was a Canadian thriller comprised of all Canadian actors and crew. I did not realize this until after I watched the movie and then checked out the movie's details on IMDb. Repeaters' repeating theme is sort of another take on Groundhog Day starring Bill Murray and though this duplication takes away from any claim Repeaters could have to originality the two movies are totally different in plot and genre. There are some unexplained parts in the storyline's flow but I do not think they are strong enough to throw the audience out of it's constant comprehension of the general stream. In other words Repeaters has the ability to entrance an audience and so thereby can be appreciated as a good, reasonable piece of movie entertainment. My congratulations go out to the crew and to the talented young actors for not engaging in melodrama but instead delivering a good, down-to-earth performance with excellent production effects. Let's see more of these 'way to do it' movies which appear so very together. Well done, cast and crew - 'you've got the feel'!
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eigerzoom8 August 2011Any movie set in the country where trees outnumber the cast/crew and plausible town population is well on its way to drawing me in. The scene sets the mood for any film and it was chosen wisely for this Canadian country thriller. The filmmakers gave a taste of the natural surroundings of the location to give some of its own say in the plot which is a big win. It had a bit of feel from Rambo/First Blood where you get the environment playing a part in the characters with strong sounds from the river and a dirt bike. The dialog came across as unforced and played out creatively into a spire of events that held high entertainment value. Mid level psychological value but more entertaining than trying to draw on conceptual values over its own path and plot. This film kept me watching without a yawn and did a quality job of taking the expected state of affairs to the next level. While admittedly most movies drawn up these days use a bit of the same sleazy concepts, this one I believe nestles down into its own unique little fortified holding and fires upon the viewer with a quality helping of raw.
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bgaiv1 September 2020This isn't for everyone, but I do think they accomplished what they were attempting and the acting is mostly good, especially the leads.
It is like Groundhog Day, but way darker and less fun. The major twist is there are three people stuck, and since they are scum bags in rehab, they do all sorts of questionable things on their repeated day.
What really makes it interesting is when they start turning on each other... and remembering it the next day.
Not the best ever. The tone kind of reminds me of The River's Edge and Boys Club.
But ultimately it is surprisingly touching and you feel sad for the person you don't expect to. -
teainthesierras17 July 2012Repeaters contains numerous film school conventions and setups -- pretty shots with shallow depth of field while characters say things that sound profound but are meaningless. It feels like a movie with the mission to look like a real movie. Bessai certainly wanted to make something thinky and challenging. But we've seen this movie already a thousand times and its stale dialogue. The late night group drug trip gone awry is just so cliché. It would have been much edgier to avoid the MTV soundtrack and instead of trying to sell us on how wild these kids are (Fast Times at Ridgemont High was much more harrowing as a comedy), go into their real fears and dreams. It starts with writing not camera work.
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joiningjt14 October 2020Excellent cast decent story kept me watching till the very good ending. Not an oscar contender but worth the watch decent cast decent cinematography and I was never bored. It's a basic concept but works starts a little slow but kicks in after the premise is set.
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begob8 April 2015Three delinquents experience the same day over and over again. So what do they do?
Not much, really. The key is "Carston! Seven thirty." And so we go again. But from this enjoyable concept nothing clever or insightful ensues, and we end up with a midwestern family values story. Just like that other movie, but without Bill Murray's delightful cynicism.
What would it be like to live without consequences for your actions? A bit dull, mostly miserable, do the same. So, not much different from real life, which technically makes this a documentary.
This really needed some perverse behaviour from the characters, however foul according to the taste of the intended audience. Without the perversity it simply failed to explore the concept. The good guys were good, the bad guy was bad. Completely dull.
Pace, direction, editing all excellent, but concept cooked as flat as a pancake. I did like the actress with her slopey nose and woolly hat. -
chicagopoetry11 September 2011Repeaters is really well made and introduces us to some great new actors who do a fine job, but nevertheless it ends up being a rather long 90 minutes as this twisted version of Groundhog Day doesn't really take advantage of the opportunities but instead resorts to typical psycho horror with a lot of spaghetti sauce flying out of people's backs and splashing on the walls. Instead of a TV news reporter, it's a group of three troubled youth who get caught in a time loop, at first going on rampages in order to take advantage of the lack of consequences their situation affords, but then two of them struggle with the moral issues and want to find a way out of the repeating day, as their friend goes nuts and decides to be as evil as he can because it will all be erased when he wakes up to the same morning again. At first Repeaters comes off as a flashy Primer, but it eventually loses its intellectual properties for the sake the action and suspense. I really didn't get the whole bit about escaping the time loop by making amends with people, but I guess that might be looked at as a reference to AA. Repeaters is an okay movie, it just goes on a little too long and doesn't offer any great twist at the end.
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While the title does have more than one meaning, there is not that much depth in the characters. Of course you do know what the characters have to do to get out of their "rhythm". The question being, if they all really want to do that. Apart from the very straightforward story, some questions about morality (though not well played), the actors might be the weakest point here. Especially our main guy cannot convey any feeling as hard as he may be trying. But he's young so maybe he'll come around one day.
Amanda Crew tries, but doesn't have that interesting of a character either. Plus her "pivotal" scene does not convince entirely. Not to mention that she is too often passive than she should have been. Finally the third character might be the most interesting, but even he fails to bring the movie around on his own. Interesting, but nothing special (the twist at the end not really helping either) -
suissenavy7 August 2011Just saw this and thought I would give it a review as it entertained me. There is a lot of hardcore scenes due to one characters O.T.T. maniac tendencies. It really is enjoyable and reaches full speed at an admirable pace. I won't bother re-rewriting the plot synopsis posted with the film, just tell you that you can expect all the same rules as the Bill Murray film about the same situation, just here we see a more sinister side to the event. We also have three very troubled people trying to figure out why this is happening to them, on this day. The climax is cool and don't turn your head too soon when you see the first credits role.OK?
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knockemdeadkidd2317 March 2013As it states, I'm not going to repeat what you already know.
In the strange event that today repeated itself, tomorrow, and the next day, and so on. Questions you would ask yourself would be grand, and this movie does NOT leave many questions.
If you were given the same day to do what ever you want, would you kill, would you murder, would you rape, or would you save a life? these are possibly already questions you may have.
Luckily this movie gets to the darker groundhogs day that some people may have been thinking about the whole time. I mean why wouldn't some one want to go rob a bank, or possibly commit a even more heinous crime? Tomorrow it wouldn't count right?
This movie bends your emotions, plays with your mind, and doesn't stop until the end.
This movie does lack real depth, which may cause you to not be as close with the characters, or may cause you to lose interest. But with that being said with what depth it tries to create it isn't a reason that this film should be avoided, not by any means.
The filming is perfect, it captures the lovely British Columbia that I've loved since I was a kid, and happens to make a wicked back drop for the entire film.
There was only one actress I knew in this entire film, which was Amanda Crews, asides from that I have never seen any of the other actors/actresses in anything. If they have been in several other works than that would explain how their acting helps this movie on so many levels, it will play with every emotion no matter how heartless you are.
But if this is actually one of their few jobs they pulled it off perfectly.
I couldn't give this anything less than a 6 -
Mehki_Girl22 August 2020I did watch the entire thing and I kept wondering, are we supposed to care about these disgusting people?
The, so-called, redemption moments fell completely flat (how many times can a junkie say, I'm sorry?) And having sla character who was repeatedly raped by her father as a child actually attempt to... What? Exactly? Hey am apology? She didn't. Tell him she doesn't hate, him, thereby, letting him off the hook? Who was redeemed then? Him or her?
All of them were immoral disgusting POS, so there was no one to root for. -
ChrisMichael818 August 2011Where do I even start with this trash. Dear Arne Olson, Stop it. Just stop it. I can't begin to understand how a sane person could sit down to create a movie and think, "I have an idea. How about we make Groundhogs day. But this time it will be about a few drug abusing lunatics." The acting was amateur at best. I can't altogether blame the actors as the dialogue of the script likely resembled a high school play. The character's were very difficult to identify with in any way. What bother's me the most is that there are two people on earth, the writer, and the director who actually think that this is a real mind twisting, deep, original work of cinema. I wouldn't recommend this movie to anyone outside of an animal in a coma.
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dahauk-129 March 2013First off, don't watch the trailer. It gives away too much of the meat of the movie that you probably shouldn't see till it plays out past you. One of those go-in-blind movies. I just watched it and it's a pretty good DRAMA. Don't expect flashy special effects here. 3 young adults in a half-way house experience an electrical shock during a storm and get stuck in a day-loop, not unlike Groundhog Day. This is NOT a comedy. The 3 realize pretty early on what is going on and decide to 'ride it' doing different things every repeat, goofy and fun early on, then turning dark..and deadly. Good photography, direction and especially good acting from the three unknown leads. Worth the time.
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SnoopyStyle10 January 2019Kyle Halsted (Dustin Milligan) is being ostracized due to his previous drug use. His younger sister (Alexia Fast) refuses to talk to him. Sonia Logan (Amanda Crew) can't bring herself to visit her dying father in the hospital. Michael Weeks (Richard de Klerk) visits his imprisoned father who hates him. The three young people are struggling in a rehab center run by Bob Simpson. After getting electrocuted by a late night storm, the trio discovers that they are redoing the same day over again.
The repeats lack tension early on. It's only with Kyle and Michael going head to head when the movie finds its purpose and its villain. It needs its villain before over half the movie is gone. They don't need to be friends. The movie should be done with Kyle as the protagonist and Michael as the antagonist. He could discover Sonia doing different things and recruit her to help stop Michael. The Groundhog Day script could be much more intense with the two leads battling it out. That only happens in the second half and Sonia's story has no bite. There is potential in the premise. Some of this works more than others. -
Georgie-boy-Costanza20 August 2011It was a boring affair, and the story never went anywhere, even with the preposterous twists. All characters are low life scum with no redeeming qualities so there is no one to root for.
This movie was highly annoying at best, unbearable at worst. There is no explanation as to the supernatural occurrence which i guess is sort of a metaphor for people who are "repeaters", and the "repetitive" cycle in which they live. A really shallow metaphor, to the point it's cringe worthy.
Seriously, the ratings for this movie are way too high. Maybe teenage rejects love this movie because they don't know there are far better movies with sort of the same premise. Just watch the series "misfits" instead or watch a movie like kids or something, but please skip this one. -
saphira_dragon-8027025 January 2019We enjoyed it. Not what we were expecting. There is a surprise in there! Give it a go!
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Okay, so we have a movie about 3 drug addicted young adults who get electrocuted one night after the power goes out. The next day is a repeat of the last, and the next day, and the next etc. At first, they decide to have some fun with their new gift. They do some drugs, steal some alcohol, a car. Then, they get a bit more extreme; holding up a liquor store. And then, one of them, goes over the edge, raping and killing innocent people, all because, "it doesn't matter." As it goes on, it gets long and boring as the main guy and girl continue to try and sop the other one from his violent acts. As the title says, it's the same thing over and over, which may have worked for "Groundhog Day," but it didn't work here. It's a decent movie to watch once, but I wouldn't bother if you have a better choice.
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Kamurai2513 September 2020Good watch at best, probably won't watch again, but can recommend for time-shift loop fans ("Groundhog's Day").
I was all excited to stumble into another tim-shift loop movie, with Amanda Palmer no less. She's wildly underrated as an actress, mostly to having (probably) the worst role written on "Silicon Valley".
This movie is basically "Groundhog's Day" for drug addicts. While the protagonist in the other movie was an egotistical jerk, he wasn't an evil person, but this movie decides to "Chronicle" with it and go with a "might makes right attitude" with one of the characters.
The idea of an infinite war is actually pretty boring, and I think getting up everyday to run around shooting and raping people would grow old pretty fast. Usually the "high" of doing things like that is that you're taking agency to overcome rules and you're "special" because you're getting away with something other people won't.
Usually there is also only one protagonist experiencing the loop because it gets funny when multiple people are looping ("Paradise Falls" actually does a good version of it.), and this movie doesn't make it fun. In fact, what could have been a fun, hilarious, and impressive movie actually really takes a hit for wanting to be dark and dirty when it really didn't need to be.
Normally something like that adds substance and power to the movie, but I felt like it was just taxing to deal with. It didn't play into the plot heavily enough that it would have been a different movie without it, and it cheaply uses rape as a throwaway to example the character's removal from civil behavior.
Those points aside, I really think this is a good movie, and I'm just more upset that it isn't a great movie. -
andrew-hill5152 September 2020It had some good ideas and never really did anything with them.
It being set in a drug rehab place, but that is not really developed and none of the characters seemed like druggies, and that angle is not explored beyond the setting and the clearly marked exit strategy for the film.
It kind of limply toys with a couple of themes of forgiveness and redemption, but does not expand on that, other than that being how the loop ends, which isn't a spoiler as it's pretty blatantly spelled out very early on and then not used until it was wrap-up time 15 minutes from the end.
Essentially a variation on a theme, that of a time loop film, and is easily the weakest of the ones I've seen. Overall I'd rate it as a solid 'Meh'. -
claudio_carvalho20 November 2012In Mission City, Kyle Halsted (Dustin Milligan), Sonia Logan (Amanda Crew) and Michael "Mike" Weeks (Richard de Klerk) are interned in a rehabilitation facility run by Bob Simpson (Benjamin Ratner). One Wednesday, they have a pass to go outside the site and Kyle visits his sister Charlotte Halsted (Alexia Fast) at the Mission Secondary School but she does not talk to him. Sonia goes to the hospital where her father is terminal, but she does not visit him. Mike visits his father at the Maximum Security Correctional Facility where he is prisoner and the man does not talk to Mike.
During the night, there is a storm and Kyle, Sonia and Mike have electrical shocks and on the next morning, they awaken on the same day. When they realize that the Wednesday is repeating over and over again, their first reaction is to have fun with dangerous situations. Soon Kyle and Sonia disclose secrets and they decide to use the days to resolve personal issues mending their lives. But Mike decides to route through a criminal life believing that on the next morning, everything would be over.
A couple of months ago, I started watching "Repeaters" on DVD with family and friends at home and we decided to stop. Today I have just watched alone and despite the old storyline of many other movies, I found a great story of redemption of youths that have the chance to rethink their lives and mend their lives. Unfortunately there is an awful twist in the last scene that I prefer to ignore. The question is, what would the writer and the director be thinking including such stupid last scene? A sequel? My vote is eight.
Title (Brazil): "Labirinto do Tempo" ("Time Labyrinth") -
nogodnomasters9 October 2018Kyle (Dustin Milligan) Sonia (Amanda Crew) and Mike (Richard de Klerk) are in a rehab center for juveniles. After being cooped up for three months they get to go out into the world and make amends. Our trio has difficulty doing it. Kyle's sister refuses to listen to Kyle. Sonia has major league daddy issues and Mike's father who is behind bars because of him is less than a forgiving person.
The next day, our threesome realizes they are in Groundhog Day as the day keeps repeating. Mike wants to behave as a criminal, knowing all his sins will be erased the next day. The other two indulge him at first, but then to Mike's dismay want to seek a path of forgiveness and redemption.
Unfortunately I have seen Groundhog Day so the repeat aspect got old real fast. The story line had barely enough plot to keep me interested. It was too much like a Lifetime drama.
Parental Guide: F-bomb. No sex or nudity. -
popepeacock20 December 2012Uh, no explanation at all as to how it is they travel through time- (and don't tell me ooooh lightning struck them...cause thats no explanation) and no explanation as to how they STOP travelling through time..although SPOILER...apparently they don't stop casue the end scene is Mike waking up again...so uh...this movie was NOTHING more than a "don't do drugs" film. cause thats all they kept harking on. People who do drugs, obviously (so sayeth the movie) make bad decisions and are bad people.
I bet they show this film in rehab a lot just like they make people watch "doing time on maple drive" cause I've been staff in rehab and trust me, they make you watch some pretty lousy don't do drugs movies...
This film is not a mind bending thriller...its a movie about people who made crap decisions with their lives , ended up at a rehab center, somehow without explanation got the power to reliver the same day over and over again, and still made BAD DECISIONS throughout the film , so, moral of the story...bad people, do bad things, because they are bad. When they are druggies on top of it, they then have an excuse for their being bad...god this movie was so boring.