History Film / Looper

Joe is one such Looper, and like all Loopers he has accepted the job knowing that if he's still alive in 2074, his employers will terminate his contract by sending his future self back to die at his younger self's hands ("closing the loop"). The problem is that when his future self ''does'' appear, he does so of his own free will, unbound and ready to fight. Older Joe easily subdues Young Joe and embarks on his own agenda in the past -- and he will not let anyone stand in his way.

* PrematurelyBald: When looking himself over in the mirror before a night out, Joe gives a brief but critical glance at his widow's peak hairline. As we later see in the montage of his next 30 years, his hair doesn't last long and his older version is played by famously bald Bruce Willis.

* RightForTheWrongReasons: Kid Blue manages to capture Old Joe by staking out the apartment of a sex worker that Joe was fond of, assuming he might come see her. Joe ''does'' show up, but he didn't even know that the woman lived there; he's only there because her child was coincidentally one of the three that he had identified as potentially growing up to be the Rainmaker.

** Abe's club is named "La Belle Aurore", the French bar Rick and Ilsa were at during the German invasion in ''Film/{{Casablanca}}''. Joe's CharacterDevelopment was also loosely based on Rick's own growth from a selfish man into a hero who would sacrifice his happiness to ensure another's. The scene in which Seth pleads with Joe to hide him is extremely similar to a scene between Ugarte and Rick. The message Joe carves in his arm is "Beatrix": the name of the waitress at the diner ... but it's also "Be at Rick's".

* StableTimeLoop: Averted. You can mutilate or kill somebody's past self and their older self will be affected. [[spoiler:Old Joe also nearly creates one by trying to kill Cid, thereby ensuring the Rainmaker will exist in all future loops, only for Young Joe to destroy the loop at the last second.]]

* DelayedRippleEffect: Changes to the timeline affect future selves as soon as they happen, but have no effect on any event before the change. For example, when the mobsters [[spoiler:cut Young Seth's legs off, his future self's legs instantly disappear]]. However, events continue as though [[spoiler:Old Seth still had two perfectly good legs]] up until that point, which is why he could even escape in the first place.

** Though most of the intents ''are'' to create Stable Time Loops. It's even alluded to with the job title "Looper:" execute everyone the Mob sends back for you until you kill your future self, get a big payday, and are free to live the good life... until you're kidnapped by the Mob and sent back in time so your past self can "close their loop." The implication seems to be, under the film's rules of time travel, Stable Time Loops are the norm, and breaking out of one requires extranormal effort.

* TimeyWimeyBall: Time travel works on some form of the DelayedRippleEffect... most of the time. But while this lets characters ScrewDestiny, create a GrandfatherParadox or [[ButterflyOfDoom ruin the future]], history will try very hard to self-correct into a StableTimeLoop. [[WordOfGod Director Rian Johnson]] noted this is how [[spoiler:Old Joe killing Cid's mother would prompt Cid to become the Rainmaker in ''all'' future loops]].

** Abe, cracking on Kid Blue's clumsiness, asks him if he's shot off his other foot now. What happened there is never explained. Then again, one can probably guess.

The movie is set in the year [[TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture 2044]], thirty years before the invention of time travel. The technology is immediately outlawed, but the world's high-profile criminal syndicates begin putting it to practical use in secret. Because it is nearly impossible to discreetly dispose of a body in 2074 (due to advanced tracking and tagging technologies), the criminals send the target back in time, whereupon an assassin (called a "Looper") kills and disposes of the helpless victim before he technically ever existed.

Joe is one such Looper, and like all Loopers he has accepted the job knowing that if he's still alive in 2074, his employers will terminate his contract by sending his future self back to die at his own hands ("closing the loop"). The problem is that when his future self ''does'' appear, he does so of his own free will, unbound and ready to fight. Older Joe easily subdues Young Joe and embarks on his own agenda in the past -- and he will not let anyone stand in his way.

!!This film provides examples of:

* KillingYourAlternateSelf: How often do you get a job, even as an assassin for hire, where killing your future self is considered normal? Young Joe takes pre-empts this in the end with a [[spoiler:Heroic Suicide, killing his older self and stopping the Rainmaker from being created.]]

Joe is one such Looper, and like all Loopers he has accepted the job knowing that if he's still alive in 2074, his employers will terminate his contract by sending his future self back to die at his own hands ("closing the loop"). The problem is that when his future self ''does'' appear, he does so of his own free will, unbound and ready to fight. Older Joe easily subdues Young Joe and embarks on his own agenda in the past - and he will not let anyone stand in his way.

* BizarreBabyBoom: It's stated that about 10% of the population has a mutation called "TK" (telekinesis) that allows them to move objects with their mind. Later on, it becomes a ChekhovsGun when [[spoiler:it's revealed that the villain is powerful enough to use it as a deadly weapon.]]

* GoldSilverCopperStandard: The "Loopers" are usually paid in silver ingots, which are conveniently strapped to their targets. However, if they get gold instead, they know that they have "closed their loop" and killed their future selves. They are now free to enjoy their lives... for the next 30 years.

* KillingYourAlternateSelf: How often do you get a job, even as an assassin for hire, where killing yourself future self is considered normal? Young Joe takes pre-empts this in the end with a [[spoiler:Heroic Suicide, killing his older self and stopping the Rainmaker from being created.]]

** Abe, cracking on Kid Blue's clumsiness, asks him if he shot off his other foot now. What happened there is never explained. Then again, one can probably guess.

* NoteToSelf: First, Old Joe pins a paper note on an unconscious Young Joe's jacket, warning him to skip town before the mob figures out he didn't kill his older self. Later, Young Joe carves the name of his favorite waitress into his arm.'' Old Joe reads the scars that appear on his arm and meets his younger self at the diner.

* RichInDollarsPoorInSense: In the alternate timeline, Joe kills his future self, cashes in both the gold he gets for the job and the silver he's been saving up, and moves to Shanghai. Within six years, he's blown all his money on drugs and partying and started working as a mercenary to support himself.

** Though most of the intents ''are'' to create Stable Time Loops. It's even alluded to with the job title "Looper:" execute everyone the Mob sends back for you until you kill your future self, get a big payday, and are free to live the good life. . . until you're kidnapped by the Mob and sent back in time so your past self can "close their loop." The implication seems to be, under the film's rules of time travel, Stable Time Loops are the norm, and breaking out of one requires extranormal effort.

* WhiteShirtOfDeath: [[spoiler:Old Joe's wife]] wears a white dress when being shot.

** A ball-peen hammer rests on Abe's desk in plain sight, but Abe assures Joe he won't break his fingers with it and will instead [[BreakThemByTalking talk to him for a little]] get him to give up Seth. When it comes to Kid Blue, however, Abe soon responds to his screw ups by smashing his hand.

* ColdBloodedTorture: [[spoiler:What the mobsters do to Young Seth to get to Old Seth, as well as the 'logic' that it wasn't actually torture. They just started removing things. If Abe can be kept at his word that killing a young looper is bad for the timeline, then they [[FateWorseThanDeath kept him alive without limbs, a nose, or a tongue for thirty years]].]]

* DelayedRippleEffect: Changes to the timeline affect future selves as soon as they happen, but have no effect on any event before the change. For example, when the mobsters [[spoiler:cut Young Seth's legs off, his future self's legs instantly disappear]]. However, events continue as though [[spoiler:Future Seth still had two perfectly good legs]] up until that point, which is why he could even escape in the first place.

** Loopers are technically "the lowest men on the totem pole" - men of minimal competence chosen for short-sighted hedonism so they will gleefully gun down their targets for the money they're paid, without ever thinking about how they've basically signed up to commit suicide (assuming they survive until 2074). Up until the events of the film, Young Joe has never killed a man who wasn't bound and helpless at his feet. He saves half of his silver, but blows the rest just like all the other Loopers.

* FlyoverCountry: The film mostly takes place in UsefulNotes/KansasCity. Abe, the gangster who manages the Looper program in 2044, has a lot of down time and uses it to gather some muscle and take over the town; Joe remarks that it [[TakeThat would have been impressive if it were a different town]][[note]]Although Kansas City actually has a fairly robust history of organized crime[[/note]].

* MyCarHatesMe: At one point, Joe has to use Seth's incredibly unreliable bike to escape, and only just manages to start it up in time.

* OnlyInItForTheMoney: Pretty much the entire motivation of any given Looper. Kill target, get silver, cash it in, spend money on women and partying, lather, rinse, repeat until killed or loop is closed. Comes through especially clearly when Abe gives Joe the choice of turning Seth in or giving up half his silver; he quickly chooses the former option.

* ShortRangeShotgun: The "blunderbuss" is an extremely short range weapon. It is impossible to miss anything closer than 15 yards, but beyond that range, it's effectively worthless. All loopers need to do is stand close to the spot where their target is going to appear and pull the trigger to ensure a kill.

* BrickJoke: Abe hears Young Joe's plans to move to France and suggests, using his knowledge of the future, that Joe should instead move onto China. Joe refuses. In the flash forward, we cut to Joe in China.

** Subverted later in the movie when Old Joe notices scars on his arm which appear to say the same thing ("Be at...") [[spoiler: but turn out to spell the name "Beatrix". Old Joe points out that Young Joe could've just as easily got his attention with the name of another waitress whose name wasn't as long.]]

** A ball-peen hammer rests on Abe's desk in plain sight, but Abe assures Joe he won't break his fingers with it. When it comes to Kid Blue, however, Abe soon responds to his screw ups by smashing his hand.

* AlwaysAccurateAttack: Loopers use a ShortRangeShotgun that is virtually impossible to miss with when the target is within 15 yards. Outside of that range, they're ineffective.

* BadassBoast: Kid Blue's comparative speech between the "[[HandCannon Gats]]" and the "[[ShortRangeShotgun blunderbusses]]" is ''supposed'' to be this, but gets immediately undermined when it is established to be the mob's resident fuck-up/idiot, nobody respects him, and ''all of the gun twirling he had been doing throughout the speech had gotten him shot in the foot once already''.

** A literal one in the form of the blunderbuss. [[spoiler:The range of the blunderbuss is so limited it's basically a close combat weapon, unlike the gat men's revolver. Which turns out to be a problem in the end when Young Joe is armed and dangerous, but too far away from Old Joe to stop him in time... so the only solution open to him is shooting himself.]]

* EmpathicEnvironment: A large neon arrow pointing the direction of the stairs helpfully points which direction a Gat man is coming from the shoot Old Joe.

* NoNewFashionsInTheFuture: Discussed as part of the "time loop" motif. Clothes of 2044 recycle 20th century fashions, which annoys Abe. He tells Young Joe to wear "something new." From what people see of the world leading up to 2074, fashions continue to trend backwards, to the point that by 2074, gat men are wearing [[TheForties 1940s]]-style fedoras, overcoats and ''Casablanca''-ish dresses.

* KillingYourAlternateSelf: How often do you get a job, even as an assassin for hire, where killing yourself future self is considered normal? Young Joe takes pre-empts this in the end with a [[spoiler:Heroic Suicide, killing his older self and stopping the Rainmker from being created.]]