‘Until Dawn’ Review — You’ve seen this movie before, over and over

A review of the new horror film, in theaters now

Ever since Groundhog Day, many movies have dealt with characters stuck in time loops, re-living the same period of time over and over again, repeating everything, doing it again, until they can somehow escape. The format has been used for everything from rom-coms (Palm Springs) to sci-fi alien invasion action movies (Edge of Tomorrow) to Christmas-themed romcoms (The 12 Dates of Christmas) to horror movies (Happy Death Day).

Sometimes it’s quite fun! In fact, last year I ranked the 12 Best Time Loop Movies for /Film, and to some level I enjoy every film on that list.

Sometimes, though, it all just feels familiar. That’s the case with Until Dawn, a new horror movie that would like you to know that it’s nothing like those other movies, thank you very much. In fact, one character notices a key difference in their repeating night, and he indignantly says, “So, it’s not like those movies, then.” That might be a funny line, except for the fact that this movie is quite like all those movies, and it all feels way too familiar to be entertaining.