How Tales from the Loop combines retro, sci-fi and timeless themes

In his books, Stolenhag has surprisingly beautifully combined nostalgic landscapes from the 80s and 90s with futuristic technology. And the filmmakers, including the director of "Monstro" and the future "Batman" Matt Reeves, managed to convey this melancholic, but very graceful atmosphere. However, the advantages of the series are not limited to this.

Emotions and robots

The action takes place in a small town, which is located above the "Loop". It's like a research center where scientists conduct experiments and "make the impossible possible." The very essence of the tests is not explained, but absolutely fantastic events often happen to the inhabitants, and sometimes even the time itself changes.

The scene of the series will certainly remind you of typical settlements built around one plant or mine (there are many of them in Russia). Only in the case of "Tales from the Loop" the city-forming enterprise turned out to be beyond the understanding of people. But otherwise, the lives of the characters in the series are quite ordinary.

In the plot, the main thing turns out to be not a fantastic component, but a human drama. Technology and even time distortions here only make it possible to better reveal emotions and secret desires. The authors seem to invite the viewer to ask the question "What if …?"

Shot from the series "Stories from the Loop"

And now a young lost girl gets an opportunity to look into her own future. The student becomes the one he has always envied. And the father of the family buys a robot to protect his daughter, and this scares everyone around him.

Each episode is dedicated to individual characters. But at the same time, "Tales from the Loop" cannot be called an anthology. All heroes appear in other episodes as well. Therefore, you can be sure that everyone who has spent enough time on the screen will have their own story later. And as a result, by the season finale, the plot simply does not have boring or undisclosed images: each character has its own secret and its own tragedy.

Although the heroes here use incredible technologies for their own purposes, which allow you to stop time or exchange bodies, their experiences will seem familiar to anyone. After all, who has not dreamed of staying longer in the most beautiful moments of life or getting the opportunity to give advice to himself from the past.

The emotional component reaches its maximum intensity in the middle of the season in the episode dedicated to the boss of "The Loop" (played by Jonathan Price) and his grandson. This episode was filmed by WALL-E author Andrew Stanton. And it touches on one of the most important topics - diseases of the elderly and the perception of death in children.

These themes distinguish Tales from the Loop from similar projects like The Twilight Zone or Black Mirror, which focused more on the social dimension. The closest analogue can only be called "Amazing Stories" by Steven Spielberg.

However, the format of an integral series, where the place, characters and rules do not change with each episode, allows you to feel more deeply in this story, and already literally in the second or third episode, the thought inevitably arises: “How would I act in this situation? And what opportunities would I like from Loop?"

Nostalgia and futurism

Like Stolenhag's book, the Amazon series immerses itself in a retro atmosphere. And here it is completely different from the famous "Stranger Things". Those are held together by an incredible number of references to the pop culture of the eighties, which should entertain the attentive viewer.

Loop Tales looks like the complete opposite. They do not try to entertain with hints, but create the most believable surroundings. It is completely unclear at what time the series takes place, but the heroes use landline dial phones. They have pot-bellied tube TVs at home, and old cars drive along half-empty roads.

And all this looks very natural, without trying to give what is happening deliberate brightness of retro-styling. Therefore, it is so easy to believe that the heroes really live in the recent past, very similar to ours.

And at the same time, a dilapidated robot can walk in a snowy forest, and an employee is sincerely angry at the breakdown of a flying tractor. Moreover, futurism does not look too flashy here. These are not shiny cars, which are used to show in science fiction. Robots also rust and break, and on the magic device there can be a regular switch from a table lamp made of plastic that has yellowed from time to time.

More importantly, this combination, coupled with great filming, makes the show incredibly beautiful. It is enough to watch the trailer or a few shots to understand the general atmosphere. And screenshots from "Tales from the Loop" are sure to be widely dispersed among fans, because in each episode there is a huge number of magnificent scenes that even without words convey the sad atmosphere of the series.

Melancholy and uneven plot

It is worth saying that "Tales from the Loop" will certainly not be liked by everyone. This project has a very specific environment, and not all episodes were equally successful.

The series has almost no dynamics, and the plots are simple and sometimes even naive. Only the seventh episode can truly tickle your nerves. Yes, and the hourly timing in some episodes falls into the theme, but in others it seems unreasonably prolonged. In addition, in a couple of episodes, for example in the sixth (lowest rated), the drama looks too far-fetched.

But still, if you watch all the episodes of the season in a row, you will be able to plunge into the general melancholic atmosphere, and then the inhabitants of this strange and distant city will seem almost familiar. No wonder there are a lot of fresh faces in the series: the only famous actors are Rebecca Hall and Jonathan Price. But they do not drag the whole action onto themselves. And the rest, even children, cope no worse, so the feelings of the heroes seem completely sincere.

At first glance, “Tales from the Loop” attracts with its fantastic nature. Although the authors of the project did not use the most global drawings of Stolenhag, where there were dinosaurs and huge equipment. Perhaps they will do it in the second season, if the project is renewed.

But in fact, this series is about topics that are important at all times: love, loneliness, parent-child relationships, death, helping others. They often talk about this. But it is science fiction on the verge of magic that helps to feel that even with the unlimited possibilities of The Loop, everything primarily depends on the people themselves. It is important to remember this at all times. And now - especially.