Looper

IMDB Rating: 8.1/10 from 53,597 users

Looper is a 2012 American science fiction action film written and directed by Rian Johnson. The film stars Bruce Willis, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Emily Blunt. In Looper, time travel is invented by the year 2074 and, though immediately outlawed, is used by criminal organizations to send those they want killed into the past where they are killed by "loopers", assassins paid with silver bars strapped to their targets. Joe, a looper, encounters himself when his older self is sent back in time to be killed.

Looper was selected as the opening film of the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival. It was released to positive reviews in Australia on September 27, 2012, and in the U.S. and the U.K. on September 28, 2012.

Plot

By 2044, the United States has suffered economic collapse, causing severe social decay and growth in organized crime. In addition, a mutation has occurred in ten percent of the population giving them telekinetic powers—the ability to levitate small objects. Thirty years further into the future, in 2074, time travel is invented, but is immediately outlawed. Tracking technology has rendered it nearly impossible to dispose of bodies secretly, so crime bosses use illicit time travel to send those they want killed to the past where they are killed by "loopers": assassins paid with silver bars strapped to the victim. When crime bosses want to end a looper's contract, they send his present self back to be killed by his younger self, referred to as "closing the loop," and in such a case, gold bars are strapped to the looper's own future self instead of silver bars. Failing to close the loop is punished by death.

In 2044, Joe Simmons (Gordon-Levitt) works for a mafia company in Kansas as a looper. His boss Abe (Daniels) was sent from the future to manage the loopers and also owns a club that Joe frequents, and where he spends time with Suzie (Perabo), a showgirl. Abe controls his own group of hired muscle, the "Gat Men", including the overconfident Kid Blue (Segan), who is desperate to prove himself to Abe. One night, Joe's friend Seth (Dano) visits him and tells him that he was supposed to close his own loop, but hesitated. Before Seth's future self escaped, he mentions the Rainmaker, a mastermind who has taken over future organized crime and is closing all loops. Joe attempts to protect Seth, but later chooses to betray him to Abe instead of surrendering half of his silver, which he has secretly been stashing for his retirement. The mafia capture Seth and start mutilating him, knowing that the injuries will be translated to his future self. They scar an address on his arm which he has to go to. Along the way, Old Seth begins losing body parts, and upon arriving at the location he is killed by Kid Blue, closing the loop.

Later, during a contract, Joe hesitates when he recognizes the target is his future self, allowing him to escape. After meeting in a diner, Old Joe (Willis) tells Joe that the Rainmaker sent him back to be killed, and that Old Joe's wife was killed during his capture. Old Joe killed his captors and traveled back to kill the Rainmaker as a child. Joe attempts to kill Old Joe and fulfill his contract, but both of them flee when they are attacked by the Gat Men. Joe tears a scrap off a map from Old Joe's possession, bearing a marked location and a string of digits. Old Joe uses the string of digits to search a database, getting three possible children born on the same day in the same hospital, and he intends to kill all three.

Joe follows the map to a farmhouse owned by Sara (Blunt), who lives with her son Cid. When Joe shows Sara the map, Sara recognizes the digits as Cid's birthday and the serial number of the hospital he was born in, prompting Joe to explain the situation. Joe tells Sara about the Rainmaker and the danger they're in, and offers to stay and protect them, killing Old Joe when he comes around. As Joe and Sara become close, he learns that she is a telekinetic, and that Cid was raised by Sara's sister for most of his life until she was killed. Cid does not believe that Sara is his real mother. One morning, they are attacked by Gat Man Jesse, who is killed when Cid falls down the stairs and lets out a telekinetic blast. His extraordinary telekinetic abilities cause Joe to believe that Cid is the Rainmaker, and Sara confirms that her sister was killed by Cid when he lost control of his powers. Meanwhile, Old Joe is captured by Kid Blue.

Joe tells Sara and Cid to flee, surmising that his employers or Old Joe will target the farm. Meanwhile Old Joe breaks free, killing Abe and all the Gat Men except for Kid Blue, whom Old Joe presumed to be dead. As the two Joes confront each other near Sara's house, Kid Blue attacks and is killed by young Joe. Old Joe escapes during the attack, then finds and attempts to kill Cid, prompting Cid to let out another telekinetic blast. However, before Cid can kill Old Joe, Sara calms him down and assures him by telling him his mother is with him. Old Joe tries to kill Cid again, but Sara stands between them. Joe realizes that if Old Joe kills Sara, it will lead to Cid's becoming the Rainmaker due to his tormented childhood, thus creating a closed time loop. Joe therefore kills himself, erasing Old Joe from existence and saving Sara and Cid.