ARQ (2016) User Reviews

The problem with IMDb are the extreme reviews

[DunkelheitVZ · 7/10 · 20 September 2016]

To get this out of the way, the movie is neither a 10 nor a 1 and the end is a bit unsatisfying.

This being said, this movie is enjoyable if you can stand the "Groundhogs Day" mechanics. I would definitely recommend the movie for friends of mine who like Science Fiction movies. Maybe I would even buy the BluRay.

It is full of twists, surprises, I can understand the emotions of the characters and I really like how the characters developed. Yes, there are plot holes (like with every movie that involves time travel), yes, not each performance is Oscar worthy, but if you don't expect "The Godfather" in the Star Wars universe, you might like it.

I rated it 7 out of 10, because I really like SF flicks, for "normal" people it might be a 6.

Enjoy

Solid movie except for a major plot hole...

[Mauseum · 5/10 · 8 July 2017]

This is my first review after being on this site since it was created, so bare with me!

The movie starts off alright with quick references and the usual back and forth between characters in a loop movie. I was surprised with the pace and changes we are presented with and it's done quite well, especially for basically a debut film for the director. The acting is solid enough and I like the subtlety of the external story (raging war between two factions left for control of the world etc), there could have been so much subplot information which could have easily just made the movie a mess. Unfortunately as the movie proceeds you do start to question the choices made by the lead characters but it's not the major plot hole.

The thing I could not get past is that the loop only exists within a certain radius of the machine, so therefore everything outside of the loop continues as normal. Would this not mean that the war has been raging for an unknown amount of time and Sonny would have called in for extraction of the ARK probably thousands of times? Wouldn't the dudes at Torus be like "Yo dudes, Sonny keeps calling in for extraction like every 3 hours, shouldn't we send the Droideker and see what's up?"

Overall, I didn't mind this film and it's certainly not the worst film you'll ever watch, but too many questions are left unanswered and the major plot hole is annoying. Cheers.

Worth a watch.

[ZCZIMDB · 7/10 · 10 January 2017]

Nothing fantastic but as far as low budget movies go this is a solid one. It has a good story combined with decent acting which kept me entertained all the way through.

Some parts are a little predictable but if you are the type of person who can switch your brain off and not over think every detail then I would recommend this for you.

A lot of the reviews for this movie are a little unfair and people seem to be expecting far to much from movies these days so don't let the negative reviews make you miss the chance to see this film give it a watch and form your own opinion.

Low budget but not bad.

[deloudelouvain · 6/10 · 21 October 2020]

ARQ must have a relatively low budget since almost the entire movie is filmed in the same room but nevertheless it's entertaining. There's constant action and the acting isn't bad and that from the whole cast. It's a bit like Groundhog Day but with a sci-fi touch and although the story is quite complicated, and that even if you pay good attention, it's still interesting to follow. The images are of good quality, they clearly know what they're doing. ARQ is worth a watch if you're into this genre of movies, action/sci-fi that is.

It's decent if you turn off your brain

[jdiz115 · 6/10 · 28 May 2020]

This film is ok for what it is. Well acted and well shot on an obviously low budget. The time loop stuff is messy and not really explained well. Anyways from the gist of the film It seems they never escape the loop because they'll always be reset and make the video. Also, I fail to see how the time machine would help in a war if it can 1. Only loop over and over and 2. Only loop a limited space. In the film they say time has only been looping in the circle.

So now I have to ask if time has only been looping for them then isn't the war already lost as they have been in the loop for thousands and thousands of loops while time outside has passed? Or does time reset everywhere to the original day once they escape the loop? The time loop HAS to be affecting things outside the circle because every loop one guy is always calling in backup and they keep coming every loop. If these reinforcements keep coming then they also have to be stuck in the loop which contradicts the circle theory. Like I said time is messy in films.

Here's to OPTIMISM!!

[ryanoaklen · 7/10 · 16 September 2016]

This is going to be somewhat of a difficult review as my rating is based on hypotheticals... let me explain that:

This movie is very familiar in the sense that the "groundhog day" concept has been beaten to death, then you wake up and it's beaten to death, then you wake, etc... however I felt ARQ did an amazing job of realizing this, and ushered us into the story line of continuous time-loops relatively fast and efficient, while still keeping me intrigued to the background story taking place. There is a lot of information and history left to the imagination which will definitely turn viewers away, though I personally found quite refreshing. They stuck to the main story line without jam packing a compendium of background knowledge into the film. The acting was great, the set was limited to a house which really created an intimate environment for the viewer, and the film pulled off a cliché story while maintaining a certain level of uniqueness.

This is where the hypotheticals come in to play: If this was the pilot episode for a new TV series setting up a story line for an entire season (one in which the time-loop was resolved early and didn't play-out all season) then this would be flipping fantastic, and would have every viewer intrigued and ready to watch the next episode. As you would expect in a really great pilot episode, the ending left me smiling while simultaneously giving the finger to my TV screen. If a second episode was out, no way I'd be choosing to write this instead of finding out what comes next. However, this wasn't a pilot episode, it was a movie. Which kind of changes my tune a bit, and leaves me still giving the finger to my TV, though without the accompaniment of a smile. I really hope they somehow expand on this with a sequel, or turn it into a TV show, but those are hypotheticals.

I still choose to give this a higher rating, because it could be the beginning of something awesomely awesome. If I were you, I'd give it a watch and see for yourself... Here's to OPTIMISM!!

Low budget time loop movie

[cherold · 6/10 · 17 December 2016]

I saw Edge of Tomorrow a few months ago, and ARQ is a movie best scene when it's been so long since you've seen a good time loop movie that your standards aren't too high. Because Edge of Tomorrow is a lot better.

In this movie, a man keeps going through the same eventful couple of hours as masked thugs invade his home. There's more to it than that, of course, and he finds himself dealing with a variety of circumstances in a variety of ways.

It's all perfectly adequate as time loop stories go, but it lacks the sort of clever touches one expects from mind-breaking fiction, although I did like a revelation close to the end.

This is a low budget movie that all takes place on a handful of sets in an ordinary house. The dystopian background is generic and the acting is more functional than anything else.

It's fine, if you have nothing better to watch.

Disregard the negative reviews and see for yourself.

[Sauloborges · 8/10 · 17 September 2016]

Considering the others reviews of this movie i almost lost the opportunity to see it for myself.

I think the movie was really well done and every piece was satisfactory, not every movie needs to have some plain ending. This movie had good actors, good writing, nice edit and a good ending. I may be wrong but i think people are criticizing this movie that hard because they couldn't understand it. Not a masterpiece, but considering the budget and the way the movie was made it was really good. It gave the viewers the information in small doses, small twists and good writing.

Thanks Netflix for the opportunity to watch another good movie. See it for yourself.

Actually, it's kind of brilliant!

[subxerogravity · 7/10 · 11 February 2017]

I really like it. turned out to be a really good movie.

Sometime in the future a guy built a machine that malfunctions and puts him in a time loop he can't escape from.

It's kind of like a less funny Groundhogs day, but very intense.

I really like the energy that the movie is giving off. Everything happens at a quick pace as Renton figures out more and more about his problem and attempts to deal with it, and every time he goes through the loop he learns more about his situation, and it's always this awesome twist to his story every time he began a new loop.

I won't lie, Robbie Amell seem too attractive to be a scientist capable of creating a machine that can create clean unlimited energy, but that was a stereotype I quickly got over, not that he was good at sounding smart, more like the movie was moving too fast to care that much. He did do a good job of having that personality of a too smart for you jerk.

It's an excellent hard science thriller.

Not Bad, But Could've Ended Better

[gwnightscream · 5/10 · 6 April 2020]

This 2016 sci-fi thriller tells about a couple who find themselves caught in a time loop where a group of thugs break in and one of them is trying to steal a energy source/time machine. This isn't bad, but it could've ended better, but I like the score and the "Groundhog Day" scenario. Give this a try if you're into sci-fi or thrillers.

Gripping, interesting, refreshing - had me hooked till the last minute.

[gornasa · 8/10 · 17 September 2016]

I'm starting to really like Netflix. Everything I've watched from them turns out to be very good, which is amazing because I was beginning to believe that the era of movies is over. It seems that nobody wants to make good movies anymore, CGI is king, and viewers are expected to like whatever is released by the greedy studios. Then Netflix happens and suddenly you can watch movies like ARQ.

To the point, though: I've just finished watching ARQ, literally one minute ago, and I didn't even wait for the credits to run, I was already on IMDb signing in to write a review. I've never done it before, but this time I had to. This movie deserves a lot of praise. Of course, it is a 'Groundhog day' type of movie that has been done before, but I've never seen it done so well. That's why I usually hate this type of movie: because they don't get the science right, they don't have a suspenseful story and they do a lot of illogical stuff just so they could wrap things up nicely. This isn't a mess of a movie like that. That's the main thing I liked about it, that they keep me waiting to see how the next loop is going to change. The story is really gripping, and I liked the actors a lot, they really make it look realistic and believable. And I love that someone finally came up with a story like that, in which you can see what might happen if you were stuck in a loop. Remember the movie 'Looper'? In the end, if you analyzed it, it didn't make sense. ARQ does, and it keeps you guessing, it's unpredictable. It was such a pleasure to watch, particularly because it's full of twists and turns and I challenge you to guess how it ends. Each loop is a surprise, I can't even say how refreshing it is to have watched something like that. I hope more people come to review ARQ and that they recognize what a little gem this movie is. It's not a great movie, I'm not saying it is, but it is a solid 8 out of 10 as someone already noticed. It really is. I like clever movies, and this was certainly clever. I liked 'Edge of tomorrow' with Tom Cruise for the same reason - because finally the scriptwriter got time travel right, or at least they make it look like that's the way it would work. It's an achievement. A big thumb up to Netflix.

Pretty tight for a ...

[kosmasp · 6/10 · 18 January 2017]

Time loop movie. Does it make sense overall or rather are there holes? There probably are some, but upon first viewing I couldn't find big ones that would take the fun out of watching the movie. So if you are into Science Fiction and movies with a tight idea, than this is one to watch and enjoy.

Twists and turns are coming accordingly of course and some are very neat and sweet indeed. The acting is OK for a genre movie and the characters are "acting" appropriately. There is action, there is tension and everything is playing at one location. So while it may seem easy (logistically speaking, also wardrobe), it isn't easy to keep the tension high for the viewer and making it fresh every time around. The movie achieves that on a tight budget

Can't believe I fell got reviews!

[scorpio-andy · 2/10 · 3 September 2018]

Well I looked at reviews and it seemed like a promising movie. We watched it with a girlfriend and behind this stupid movie I had to watch the main actress mess everything up over and over again and delusional guy always trusting her even though he saw how stupid she is. The ending I was already watching it and thinking to myself. Let's see how she'll mess it up again and surprise surprise... They have a chance to leave this vicious circle. But girl decides to help main character and messes everything up again... I went to sleep irritated and unsatisfied from this non-tasteful movie.

Not the worst thing ever

[osgeek · 6/10 · 19 September 2016]

*some basic concept spoilers below*

This is a typical time loop movie. Think Groundhog's Day.

I'm not opposed to the use of the cliché. Edge of Tomorrow was a fun and entertaining take on the concept.

This movie is a lot less fun than that. It's low budget and it never really allows you to appreciate the characters. The characters are all just rats in a maze, scurrying around without giving us much reason to care about them. The female love interest, Hannah, in particular was quite annoying. Why does the main character love her? Why does he put up with her constant betrayals? I never figured any of that out.

Ultimately, I found that the movie ended in an unsatisfying manner.

I marginally appreciated the movie, but wouldn't watch it again.

Arq arq arq!

[begob · 6/10 · 20 September 2016]

A man no sooner wakes up beside a sleeping woman than a bunch of masked thugs breaks in and kills him. The man then wakes up beside the sleeping woman and again the thugs break in and kill him. And so on ...

Very pacy time looper with good, evenly spaced twists that keep the interest up. It is all fiction and not so much with the science, which is black-box nonsense. As usual there is the exposition scene, where the incredible complexity of the concept of time travel is delivered through ... a doodle made with a pencil and a piece of paper (well, not quite paper). Also it has several rabbit holes and implausibilities, but still the ride is entertaining, with plenty of blood and violence. But in the end it's not quite satisfying, and clearly sets up for endless iterations in a TV series (fingers crossed).

The performances are good. The actress is hard to judge, and there was one extended close up on her reactions that mixed the subtle and unsubtle. You judge. Best performance is the villain, whose part was well written compared to the fake romance of the two leads.

Didn't notice much about the sound. Cinematography was good, and the shifty (not shaky) cam was well judged.

Overall: fast and furious, but ultimately fluffy.

What if there is no tomorrow?

[petra_ste · 7/10 · 4 October 2016]

In 1993, Harold Ramis' comedic masterpiece Groundhog Day struck cinematic gold with the premise of the protagonist trapped in a time loop, facing the same events over and over again and dealing with them more and more efficiently.

In 2011, Duncan Jones' excellent Source Code put a sci-fi/thriller spin to the premise.

ARQ, the debut of writer/director Tony Elliott, follows Source Code's footsteps but adds another clever twist to the formula. In a war-ravaged future, a scientist and his partner face a group of masked intruders; when he gets killed, he wakes up again right before the attack, stuck in a loop created by a machine he invented. As this happen again and again, he starts elaborating a more effective defence. However, and here's the catch, after a while he isn't the only one remembering previous events.

Multiple loopers? Yeah, that's a neat concept.

Science is wonky; in terms of logic, the plot melts like Mozzarella in a furnace the moment you stop to think about its finer details; in particular, a last minute reveal that should be a REALLY BIG DEAL (the loop is confined to a single area) is completely glossed over. Still, this sci-fi/thriller kept me engaged throughout. It's a small-scale story with only a handful of characters trapped in a single location, but it's fast-paced and compelling.

Also, while the conclusion isn't executed perfectly, I feel the narrative instinct behind it was correct - the kind of ambiguous-but-sort-of-hopeful open ending a better movie like Edge of Tomorrow should also have gone for.

6,5/10

I have only enjoyed the end.

[joao-neves95 · 6/10 · 3 August 2019]

The beggining really sticks you to the screen, because you are trying to understand what's going on.

But, unfortunatly, the development is very slow, repetive and honestly just boring. It could have been an amasing moovie.

I only don't give this a 5, because the end is great. Very nice twist, very unespected.

Wasn't expecting much and got a whole lot more

[professorjeffreypbrown · 9/10 · 3 October 2016]

ARQ is a low budget film made in Canada without any big name stars. Often when I watch such sci-fi films i'm disappointed, as poor acting, plot, or cheep sets get in the way. However, ARQ was very well acted and the low budget didn't distract. I'd say it was the adequate lighting that kept one in the film and not distracted (see Synchronicity for details).

The movie focuses on a couple that experiences their own Groundhog Day over and over again. But unlike Bill Murray, it's not about getting the girl or getting the hell out of the ensuing boredom, but doing what is necessary to avoid major catastrophe. I won't say what that is as it would ruin the film.

The re-tellings have enough variety with each go-through adding more to the plot twist to keep the viewer engaged. I didn't find myself looking at my phone or seeking other distractions, as I am want to do with less captivating films, so the story line was well constructed and the acting good enough to be engaging.

Overall, quite an enjoyable viewing. Highly recommended on all accounts.

It started off with an interesting idea.

[greyhounds-50686 · 6/10 · 1 August 2018]

I really wanted to like this movie more than I did. The idea of the movie is very cool. A time machine that keeps resetting time when you die. Cool idea right? It is, but after the 4th or 5th time it started getting repetitive. I feel the roll for Renton was not cast correctly. Renton has the look of a tough guy but plays an engineer. I really like end of world movies, or close it. This one just didn't do it for me.

Cycles endlessly into a bottomless pit.

[robynsegg3 · 3/10 · 17 September 2016]

I am amused by those reviews that state that 'If you don't like this movie then you are too stupid to get it.' I'm pretty sure that I'm smart enough to get it. It just isn't. Smart, funny, or much of anything except a monotonous ride into nothingness.

The back story is pretty much non-existent. (Why are they here? Who is fighting? How would this guy, with no help or other backing, be able to create this machine - because other than punching in a few lines of code, he seems pretty average?) The protagonist keeps remembering his loops in time. But he is neither smart enough (He keeps blindly trusting his Hannah even though she betrays him EVERY time. He also keeps doing the same actions time and again.) or courageous enough (to actually stop the ARQ and end the cycle) to do anything about it. Instead he just keeps going for 'One more time!'. (If you keep doing the same thing again and again, expecting a different result...)

In the closing of the movie, it is revealed that they have been going through this not just 10 times, but thousands of times. He records another video which is to be shown to the NEXT iteration of loops, in the blind belief this would somehow change something...even though they have already seen a video of this that they kinda ignored this iteration.(so this isn't actually going to change anything? In fact, they don't even see the first video that indicates a problem until the 8th or 9th loop, so we can be reasonably sure this is NOT going to change anything.) Conceivably the premise of the movie is that this would just go on forever, with absolutely nothing changing.

That is not to say the movie is totally without merit. It promised of an intelligent thriller. It just failed to actually deliver on that promise. If the movie leaves you with a feeling incomplete ... there's a reason for that.

Justifies a month's netflix bill on its own

[thekarmicnomad · 8/10 · 18 December 2016]

This is a sci-fi time travel yarn. Now I am a little wary of these, it's not normally long before characters are bumping into themselves in the lift, or someone sleeps with their gran and now dinosaurs are alive and driving cars.

This is an enclosed scenario caught in a loop. Each iteration opens up a different plot line.

The writing is very smooth and the performances are excellent, as is production.

Now this film has some twists and turns but it is unlikely to blow your mind.

It has a prompt running time, not feeling the need to Labour any of the plot lines.

A slick, well thought out movie that gripped me from the start.

Goodish movie. Not bad.

[kianpeterson · 7/10 · 18 October 2019]

Pretty good, could have used a change if scenery every once in a while but I guess that would have been difficult to incorporate in this movie timeline.

Boring low budget movie

[alphaprior · 2/10 · 26 October 2019]

A repeating over and over story. It manages to keep you interested until you get tired and you wanna skip to the end. Finally the movie ends without ending the story just another repeat... absolute waste of time, another netflix crap.

Most Forward

[baybay-21560 · 6/10 · 16 October 2019]

Excellent thought provoking movie .Viewers are left puzzled thinking who was the most forward in time person in that loop was that Anna ,you partner only knows about the loop and time machine when shot..

I expected more, but a fun film nonetheless

[hypersonic8999 · 6/10 · 18 September 2016]

A rogue scientist develops a perpetual motion machine that generates limitless energy and is also a time machine.

I'll be honest, I expected more from this film. Netflix has a good track record with quality. Well, this film isn't up to that level, although it's a lot better than many other sci-fi that has recently hit the theaters.

The acting is mediocre to decent for the most part. I didn't enjoy the girl's acting at all though. When the moment calls for emotion, she is either overacting it or underacting it.

Although this story has been done to death, from Groundhog Day to Edge of Tomorrow, they manage to keep it fresh and interesting. But the plot does suffer from certain plot-holes. Some are just nitpicky, others are more serious. A lot of it comes down to stupid decisions the characters are making. Particularly towards the end, where they know what's going on, yet they do a lot of counter-intuitive things that come back to bite almost immediately.

Nonetheless, I believe you'll enjoy yourself if you lower your expectations before going in. It's a slightly above average film. I hope Netflix produces more films and I hope they learn from the mistakes of this one, because it does have a lot of moments where you can see the missed potential. With a bit of polish it would have made for a far better film.