Review: Tales from the Loop

Tales from the Loop is a sci-fi drama series on Prime Video. It’s about time – time can stop, or loop back on itself, or pass in the blink of an eye, or simply march on whether we want it to or not.

Tales from the Loop has 8 episodes, which seem to take eons. This series is slow – glacial, in fact. It was inspired by the art of Simon Stålenhag. This apparently means that the viewer needs nothing more than the artistic vision of Simon Stålenhag to look at. Action, dialog, music – who needs ’em?

There is a story. I exaggerated a little in that last paragraph. It revolves around a family. Jonathan Pryce plays Russ, the creator of the loop under this odd city. Cole (Duncan Joiner) is his grandson.

Russ’s daughter Loretta (Rebecca Hall as an adult, Abby Ryder Fortson as a child) is frequently the center of the story. We see her as a child when she meets her adult self in a time anomaly. As an adult she takes over running the loop. Her son Cole learns some hard lessons about time.

Loretta’s other son, Jakob (Daniel Zolghadri) makes some big changes inside this rusty orb.

Other folks in the town who aren’t part of the creator of the loop and his family line also have stories. Ethan (Danny Kang) and May (Nicole Law), for example, want to preserve their perfect time forever.

Ato Essandoh plays Gattis. Stefanie Estes is the timeless teacher. Jane Alexander is Russ’s wife, to whom time insists on happening.

Women directors included Jodie Foster, So Yong Kim, and Dearbhla Walsh. Jodie Foster directed the final episode, which resolved several story lines and seemed to move a little faster than the other episodes.

You have to love slow moving, inexplicable weird sci-fi to enjoy this series. It takes determination to stick with it, but there are lovely images, cute robots here and there, and a bit of a payoff in the end.

Have a look at the trailer.

Are you a slow drama fan? What did you think of this series?