River - The Timeloop Hotel

Mikoto (Riko Fujitani) works at a remote inn located in the mountains north of Kyoto, where she has congenial co-workers and usually pleasant customers. While gazing at the river bordering the inn one day, she suddenly finds that she and the other inhabitants of the inn have fallen into a "time loop," where every two minutes she is inexplicably back at the river as if the previous two minutes had never occurred! Fortunately one of the chefs at the inn was a "science major," and he goes to work at deducing the cause of the loop with the aim of restoring proper time to the inn; in the meantime, all of the people there must find ways to cope with their strange predicament....

Two years ago, Montreal's Fantasia Festival (online that year) showed "Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes," one of the most hilarious films about time loops ever made; "River" is director Junta Yamaguchi's bigger-budget follow-up, and like its predecessor it is both charming and hilarious for the entirety of its short (82-minute) length. I don't want to say more because the film should be experienced with no preconceptions, so let me just note that you are unlikely to find anything more visually beautiful, with more exquisite and perfect timing from both the actors and the scenarios being enacted, anywhere in this or any other universe. Highly, highly recommended!

Time loop movies are nothing new at this point but it's done in a way I haven't seen before here, and the Japanese flair adds to the novelty feeling. It's pretty cute, well directed and acted (unless you have an issue with the usual Japanese "overacting" style). I thoroughly enjoyed it even though I found the denouement to be a bit of a let down. Still recommended!

What a great little indie film. Loved the female lead character Mikoto, she kept me watchingl While stuck in a loop, the staff of a hotel try to both keep their guests happy and informed while also attempting to understand and extricate themselves from the situation. Unlike other loop themed tales, everyone recalls everything from previous iterations. This allows them to perform a variety of experiments to gain information that could lead to an exit. At same time all the usual human responses and interactions proceed apace. With an overlay of Japanese mannerisms, the story is completely beguiling.

Give it a try.

This is a great little movie, a real gem and an absolute must watch wether you're into fantasy or science fiction or not, wether you're into japanese movies and culture or not. It is a movie done with a very small budget and small group of actors basically in one single location. The script is mostly hilarious and moving at times, so full of inventions and situations and the characters are all extremely well crafted. The direction is purely virtuosic. Basically each two minutes loop is a non stop sequence and each one of them is different from the other. I do not want to spoil any element as it's important to watch it without knowing anything more than the basic concept. Believe me, I do not write reviews very often and if I do it's for an extremely good reason.

No pun intended - the filmmaker himself made a video that we got to see before the movie (Weird Weekender Festival in Stuttgart). He admitted that he is good with .. time! And if you have seen Beyond infinite two minutes, you know he is not lying. The question is, if you want to watch a movie that is similar to that.

While this is good (added comedy I reckon) and still quite twisted in a sense, the former movie is a tiny bit better than this one. That said, you do get new and original ideas with this one. And maybe even an explanation why something happens ... to a specific group of people in a specific area ... we follow one character for most of the movie. That said, we do get to see a lot of people besides her.

There are some inconsistencies when it comes to logic (especially when we have a "hunt" going on), but with a movie and an idea like that it is better to suspend your disbelief.