ARQ
A trapped couple repeatedly relives a masked raid while trying to keep a revolutionary energy device out of corporate hands.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Moderate
- paranoid
- claustrophobic
- tense
- late night sci fi viewing
- mind bending movie night
What critics said
Critics found the film an inventive, resourceful time-loop thriller whose contained production and paradox-resolving climax outweigh its occasional narrative overload.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Renton and Hannah repeatedly experience the same laboratory assault, with each cycle revealing new information and changing their strategy.
The couple is trapped inside a confined lab while masked raiders repeatedly breach and control its rooms.
Renton and Hannah attempt to protect a new energy source that could save humanity while Torus seeks to acquire it.
The looping plot gradually exposes betrayal, duplicity, corporate espionage, and changing motives among the trapped characters.
Films like ARQ, and why
Edge of Tomorrow
shares the time loop premise, escalating survival struggle, and blend of science fiction with thriller tension
Groundhog Day
shares repetitive causality, comic-strategic trial and error, and a protagonist learning through repeated deaths or failures
Coherence
shares claustrophobic science fiction, paranoia, deception, and characters trapped in a confined technological environment
Primer
shares a low-budget science fiction approach, temporal disorientation, and increasingly complex causal puzzles
Movie Details
- Director
- Tony Elliott
- Release Date
- 2016-09-16
- Runtime
- 88 min
- Rating
- 6.1 / 10 (1356)
Cast
- Robbie Amell
- Rachael Taylor
- Gray Powell
- Jacob Neayem
- Shaun Benson
- Adam Butcher
- Tantoo Cardinal
- Nicolas Van Burek
- Jamie Spilchuk
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- Netflix, Netflix Standard with Ads
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is ARQ about?
- A trapped couple repeatedly relives a masked raid while trying to keep a revolutionary energy device out of corporate hands.
- What is ARQ like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of ARQ as brisk, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is ARQ violent?
- Somewhat. Ember rates the violence in ARQ as moderate.
- What did critics think of ARQ?
- Critics found the film an inventive, resourceful time-loop thriller whose contained production and paradox-resolving climax outweigh its occasional narrative overload.
- Which films are like ARQ?
- Films with a similar feel include Edge of Tomorrow, Groundhog Day, Coherence, and Primer.
- How long is ARQ?
- ARQ runs 88 minutes.
- Where can I watch ARQ?
- In United States, ARQ streams on Netflix, Netflix Standard with Ads.
