Groundhog’s Day—beloved American classic film and weird holiday based on a German tradition using a…badger?
Groundhog’s Day—beloved American classic film and weird holiday based on a German tradition using a…badger? However, in the 3 decades since its release, the plot of Groundhog’s Day has also become a storytelling device used in numerous stories.
So what’s this famous plot device? Basically:
Your Legendary Character is stuck in a time loop repeating a particular frame of time or situation over and over until something specific is achieved. However how and when the reset happens and what the achievable goal is changes from story to story.
Looking for some examples beyond the titular Groundhog’s Day?
Here are 6 stories with a unique take on the time loop story device I highly recommend:
1) THE MAP OF TINY PERFECT THINGS
Mark has been stuck repeating the same day in his idyllic small town. Doing his part to—more or less—make people’s lives a little bit better when he runs into Margaret, another teen also stuck in a perpetual time loop. The two then devise a plan to break out of the loop by mapping out all the perfect moments that happen in their loop.
What’s Unique?
2 characters stuck in a time loop + The story starts with Mark already well into being trapped in the time loop
2) SUMMER TIME RENDERING (SAMĀ TAIMU RENDA)
Available in both English dubbed and Japanese subtitled
Shinpei Ajiro returns to his hometown of Hitogashima Island for the funeral of his friend and adoptive sister Ushio. Details surrounding her death lead Shinpei on a quest that ends in his murder. But instead of the afterlife, he wakes to find himself on the ferry pier on the day of Ushio’s funeral once again.
What’s Unique?
Even though Shinpei is trapped in a time loop the starting point of the loop moves forward a little more each time he loops + the end of the loop is death not a specific time of day such as midnight.
3) THE 7 LIVES OF LÉA (LES 7 VIES DE LÉA)
Available in both English dubbed and original language with English subtitles
While at an outdoor party by a river in June 2021, Léa stumbles upon a dead body. She wakes up the next day, thirty years in the past inside the body of Ismaël—the person she found dead. For the next 6 days, she inhabits the bodies of the 6 people that contributed to the death of Ismaël all while trying desperately to save him from his grisly fate.
What’s Unique?
Freaky Friday meets Groundhog’s Day + a murder mystery + time travel
4) ERASED (BOKU DAKE GA INAI MACHI “THE TOWN WHERE ONLY I AM MISSING”)
Available in both English Dubbed and Japanese subtitled anime and live action
29-year-old Satoru Fujinuma has an ability known as “Revival.” The power to send himself back in time moments before a life-threatening incident and prevent it from happening. But when his mother is murdered it sends him back 18 years to his hometown where he has the chance to prevent more than just one death.
What’s Unique?
Time looping is an ability of the character + murder mystery + time travel
5) TOKYO REVENGERS (TŌKYŌ RIBENJĀZU)
Available in both English dubbed and Japanese subtitled
On the day that 26-year-old Takemichi Hanagaki learns that his middle school girlfriend and her little brother were killed by the Tokyo Manji Gang, Takemichi is pushed onto the train tracks. But instead of the afterlife, he wakes to find himself in the body of his 14-year-old self. And the actions he takes next creates a paradox that allows him to jump back and forth through time within his own body as he tries desperately to prevent their deaths. And then the deaths of others.
What’s Unique?
The time loop’s reset point moves forward as time passes + Time looping is an ability of the character + murder mystery + time travel
6) RUSSIAN DOLL
Nadia is trapped as the guest of honor at her seemingly inescapable 36th birthday party. The loop always starts at the same moment in the party and ends—quite frequently with her death. And then she meets Alan who is also aware he’s stuck in a loop and weirdly also shares the same birthday.
What’s Unique?
2 characters stuck in a time loop + the end of the loop is death not a fixed time like midnight
Well, I hope these Time Loop recommendations will help you write your own Groundhog’s Day style story. Until next week, this is your friendly neighborhood storytelling Kat signing off.
