‘Tales from the Loop’ Bends Time, Space, and Middle American Life

Warning: This review contains moderate spoilers The best sci-fi stories are grounded in the human experience. It’s the tragic romances between lovestruck characters, moral quagmires faced by complex anti-heroes, and other explorations of the human condition that leave their mark. The robots, spaceships, and interstellar travel are just the conduits by which we explore the deeper aspects of human nature. In Tales from the Loop, Amazon’s 8-episode sci-fi series by creators Nathaniel Halpern (Legion, Outcast) and Matt Reeves (The Batman, Felicity), the interpersonal struggles of rural Americans are juxtaposed with a time-bending, reality warping phenomena that quietly influences their lives. Based on Swedish artist Simon Stålenhag’s art book of the same name, Tales from the Loop takes place in a fictional Ohio town where a large round construct dubbed “The Loop” is being scientifically investigated by a team in an underground facility. A scientist named Loretta (Rebecca Hall) works at the Loop with her husband George (Paul Schneider) and her father-in-law (Jonathan Pryce) who runs the facility. Loretta (Rebecca Hall) observes her family Each episode of Tales from the Loop focuses on an individual character for a self-contained story that simultaneously ties into overarching narratives in the show. There’s the girl who discovers a device that stops time and the devastation of her first heartbreak (Christin Park), the gay man in search of love across realities (Ato Essandoh), and …