Right now, many of us are stuck inside feeling like the world is falling apart and the people we care about are out of reach. A show like Tales from the Loop couldn’t have come at a better time. Available for streaming on Amazon Prime Video, this series is an anthology collection of eight overlapping yet self-contained stories set in a fictional Ohio town.
The premise of the show is inspired by the breathtaking and surreal visual art of Simon Stålenhag, who designs rural scenes melded with unnerving science fiction. Rather than putting the supernatural oddities at the forefront of the plot, Tales from the Loop uses the odd occurrences of the town to explore the ins and outs of the ordinary people living through it all.
The recurring cast includes Daniel Zolghadri, Rebecca Hall, Paul Schneider, Ato Essandoh, Jonathan Pryce, Dan Bakkedahl, and Lauren Weedman, among others. The town these characters live in was built upon a strange machine—The Loop, which is capable of unlocking the mysteries of the universe. Although the characters are everyday people, they encounter events previously relegated to the realm of the impossible.
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Sometimes, the oddities encountered by the town prove divisive for its residents. But at the heart of it all, Tales from the Loop is a show about connection. Like all of us wading through the daily slog of our current global crises, the people who live above The Loop strive to overcome loneliness and loss.
Unlike The Mandalorian and other new sci-fi series,Tales from the Loop doesn’t deliver action-packed thrills. Instead, it leans into dramatic and nuanced character-driven narratives. Contrasting intentional advancements like robotic limbs with accidental consequences like space-time fluctuations, this series highlights the struggles of an uprooted way of life.
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From a young girl’s search for her missing mother in Episode 1, “Loop,” to a man stumbling through a mirror universe in Episode 6, “Parallel,” Tales from the Loop takes a subtle and emotional approach to science fiction. As we all adjust to the strange new world around us, the characters in this series trudge through a similar melancholy and uncertainty.
Tales from the Loop is a profound and enlightening series that's perfectly timed to guide sci-fi fans through one of the most difficult times in recent history.
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Check out the trailer for Tales from the Loop below, then start streaming on Amazon!
Featured still from "Tales from the Loop" via Amazon Studios.