In honour of the quirky American holiday that takes place on February 2 (and that, let’s be honest, few of us would know about if it wasn’t for the movie), I thought it would be fun to break down the structure of a time loop story.

As an example, we’ll use the OG: the 1993 film Groundhog Day, written by Danny Rubin and Harold Ramis, directed by Harold Ramis, and starring Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell. I’m pretty sure the movie is iconic enough that I didn’t need to include all that information, but with new generations taking an interest in film every day, you never know.

Of course, many other movies and novels build on a similar idea, from general time loop stories to more specific one-day-repeating loops. Edge of Tomorrow (2014) and Palm Springs (2020) are two of the more known ones, but there are many others. Let me know in the comments which ones you think of!

Now let’s take a closer look at the Groundhog Day structure. Why? Because it’s fun and just in case you ever want to play with the trope. Why not :

Time Loop Story

1) Set-up: establishing the basis

Every story needs a set-up: the introduction of characters, setting, context, world, atmosphere, and main themes. Of course, this is the stage where we see the character’s daily life, including their flaws or lack.

This is also the case in Groundhog Day. We meet our main character Phil who is a narcissistic and self-centred weatherman and who very much hates having to go to Punxsutawney to report about Groundhog Day.

In a time loop story, this first stage has an additional role: to establish the anchors for the audience. You know, the details that will be repeated in every loop, the details that will make it clear and obvious this is in fact a loop, and the details that the character may later play around with.

Often, this will include the first thing the character hears or sees right after they wake up. And it will be fun for the audience later when this random thing becomes annoying and inevitably funny. Remember “On your feet, maggot!” from Edge of Tomorrow?

These repeating details will also occasionally enable the main character(s) to prove that they are stuck in a loop or give them an opportunity to seem almost psychic.

In Groundhog Day, examples of such anchors are the radio alarm that wakes up Phil with the song “I Got You Babe” and the announcement of the coming blizzard.

We get another one soon afterwards when a man stops him in the hallway and asks him if he’s going to see the groundhog and if he thinks it’s going to be an early spring.

Another example of this is Ned Ryerson who went to high school with Phil and now sells life insurance. And so on.

All of these details have multiple functions: they introduce us to the world, set the tone, and, most importantly, show Phil’s Character at the beginning of the story. Knowing this, they will be useful to show his growth towards the end of the film.

But as mentioned, they also serve as anchor points for the audience - they are all specific and quirky enough for the audience to remember them. And if that wasn’t enough, Phil’s cynical reactions make these situations even more memorable.

2) First repeat: confusion & discovery

The first time the character wakes up and repeats the day/loop, it is understandable that the emphasis is on this realization itself.

It’s the “wtf is going on” stage.

This is when we revisit those anchor points and the character gets suspicious about them. It is not yet time to get to the real story.

This stage is always at least a little amusing, even if the story is more serious (like Source Code for example). And of course, if we’re talking about a comedy (which currently, we are), this is just pure gold.

In Groundhog Day, Phil wakes up to the same song as the day before and the same warning about the coming blizzard. At first, he makes a remark about how repetitive the radio station is. But when they excitedly say it’s Groundhog Day, he panics. He looks out the window and sees people preparing for the celebration of the GRoundhog Day.

In the hallway, the man once again asks him if he’s going to see the groundhog and if he thinks it will be an early spring. At first, Phil gets suspicious, then angry and asks the man what day it is.

Of course, he has to do everything he had to do the previous day, including encountering Ned Ryerson, talking to the producer Rita, and reporting on what happens with the groundhog.

We revisit the anchor points from the Set-up but what makes them interesting this time is the fact that they show that the character is stuck in a loop (not something that usually happens in a movie) and the character’s attitude.

It’s really the character’s reactions that drive the story forward and make sure these events don’t get boring for the audience.

3a) Trying to escape

Realizing they are stuck in a loop, the character’s first reaction is usually to try to find a way out of it.

Also, now that we know what is going on, we can go through the loop a bit faster and if it’s a comedy, start to enjoy the character’s annoyance and comical encounters with people who don’t know what they are going through. Alternatively, if it’s a more serious movie, we can try to figure out what is going on or why this is happening.

In Groundhog Day, Phil talks to Rita and tells her about his problem, but of course, she can’t help him. He visits a doctor to get an MRI of his brain. He visits a psychiatrist.

Noone can help him and he’s just getting more and more frustrated.

Which leads him to drink alcohol at the bowling alley one evening. When he drives two other drunk men home, he realizes there will be no consequences of “today” so he just starts crashing the car into random objects on the streets and even drives on the train tracks right in front of the train. The car eventually stops and gets surrounded by the police.

The next day, Phil wakes up to “I Got You Babe” again.

3b) Enjoying the loop

Realizing that there is (seemingly) no way out, the main character decides to have some fun. After all, the loop resets every time without consequences.

Of course, this phase will depend on the genre but it is definitely, once again, a golden opportunity for comical situations.

We can see this in Groundhog Day. After crashing things all over town and the police surrounding Phil and his two drinking buddies, he wakes up in his bed-and-breakfast room and jumps out of the bed happy.

He can do whatever he likes and gets away with it.

He anticipates people’s questions, punches Ned Ryerson, orders and eats a bunch of desserts in the diner. He talks to a woman in the diner and finds out some information about her. The “next day”, he talks to her as though he knows her, so he can hit on her and sleep with her.

In general, we can see that Phil starts having fun, realizing he can just date any woman he wants, eat whatever he wants, and basically do whatever he wants. One time (or at least the one time that we see), he goes to the cinema dressed as Clint Eastwood in Bronco Billy and tells his date it’s a costume party so she also shows up in a costume. Because why not.

4) The heart of the story

If you’ve listened to the podcast episode about Act II, you will recognize the shift that happens at this point in the story. I called it the shift from the “Fun and Games” stage to the “Heart of the Story” (or what is known as “Approach to the Inmost Cave” in Hero’s Journey terms).

While all the comical situations of being stuck in the loop might be the fun that the story idea promises, that is not what this story is truly about in its essence.

One way or another, the story shifts the focus from the loop itself to the character’s main goal. This might be connected to why they are stuck in the loop or not.

In Groundhog Day, this is where we shift the focus to Rita and Phil’s relationship to her. He starts talking to her in the diner, and then they hang out and have a lovely day together. They have dinner, make a snowman together, dance, and get to know each other.

But of course, there is a slight problem. The thing is, Rita doesn’t remember anything the next day. Even when Phil uses the information he gets about her the next day to charm her, it sometimes works until she finds it suspicious. She feels like he did some research on her and is now manipulating her.

It turns out that all of their “dates” inevitably end with Rita slapping him in the face.

5) Despair

As with any other story, a well-structured time-loop story will have the Ordeal stage from Hero’s Journey. (This is not a Hero’s Journey post but as I’ve mentioned in the Act II podcast episode, the Ordeal is such a crucial point in the story structure that I couldn’t avoid talking about it here.)

This is usually when the main character realizes they are not only stuck in the time loop but also stuck in their inability to achieve the goal they have been trying to achieve in the previous phase.

Phil from Groundhog Day gets so depressed here that he tries to kill himself. This is also fitting for this point of the story since the Ordeal is also known as a “brush with death”.

But of course, this is a comedy. After the suicide, Phil wakes up to “I Got You Babe” in his room again. So he tries to kill himself again. And again. And again.

6) A new approach: the solution

After the despair phase, the character may reach a new level of acceptance or some new way of understanding the loop.

After many unsuccessful suicide attempts, Phil reaches this acceptance stage. He tells Rita the truth and they spend the day together. Except this time, Phil is more relaxed, honest, and authentic. When Rita is already dozing off to sleep next to him, he tells her why he loves her.

The next day, he wakes up to “I Got You Babe”. As he goes about his day, he is a much kinder man. He gives the homeless guy some money, brings coffee to Rita and Larry, helps them with carrying the equipment, and so on.

One of the next days, he meets the guy in the hallway again (remember, one of the anchor points). He hugs him and kisses him on the cheek and answers his “Think it’s gonna be an early spring?” question with lines from Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s poem. The man smiles, his spirits clearly lifted.

And so Phil continues with his good deeds until we see him go through the entire day just helping people. He is truly a changed man.

In the evening, he plays jazz piano in a bar like a professional. When he later dances with Rita, many people come to him and thank him for helping them.

After the dance, they announce the big bachelor auction. Rita bids on Phil. They spend a lovely time together and he tells her that it doesn’t matter what happens tomorrow or for the rest of his life, he is happy now because he loves her. They kiss and it starts to snow.

7) Exiting the loop

After successfully figuring out what kind of change was needed to exit the loop, the main character can now do so. They enjoy the next day and we can see how this whole journey has changed them and get a sense of what their new life will be like.

In Groundhog Day, the next day begins with “I Got You Babe”, making us think that the loop has reset again. But soon, we hear the radio speakers say, “Aw, please, not again,” and Rita reaches over Phil’s face to shut down the alarm. A new day has indeed begun.

They kiss and go out into the snowy (and empty) streets, happy and in love.

How lovely.

Using the formula

Even though the time loop structure is pretty intuitive and I feel like it’s usually well executed, it can be useful to break it down and see what it’s made of.

And if you’re up for a challenge, use this formula for a writing exercise! You can either follow it or find a new spin on it. Either way, make it your own and enjoy the process.

Until next time,

Katja