Time loop stories are often entertaining, but the situation changes when you consider the horrifying experience of someone trapped in such a loop. The 2011 film Source Code understands this reality very well. Presented as a high-concept sci-fi thriller, the film centers on a man trying to figure out where he is, who he is, and why he keeps waking up in the last moments of another person’s life. While this may seem like an ordinary travel nightmare, there is a deep anxiety lurking beneath.

Directed by Duncan Jones, Source Code is available for free on the Fawesome platform this month. The film follows a soldier named Colter Stevens who wakes up in the body of another man on a train. Colter learns that he is part of an experimental program that allows him to relive the last eight minutes of a bombing victim’s life repeatedly. His goal is to identify the terrorist behind the attack.

The cast of the film includes Jake Gyllenhaal (Nightcrawler, Prisoners) as Colter Stevens, Michelle Monaghan (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Mission: Impossible III) as Christina Warren, Vera Farmiga (The Conjuring, Up in the Air) as Colleen Goodwin, Jeffrey Wright (American Fiction, The Batman) as Dr. Rutledge, Michael Arden (Bride Wars) as Derek Frost, and Cas Anvar (The Expanse, Room) as Hazmi.

Source Code is an effective film because it understands that the best time loop stories are about choices. While Colter cannot change what is happening in the most obvious sense, he constantly pushes against the limits of the system and tries to save people who may already be lost. This adds a significant emotional depth to the film's final act and provokes thought in the viewer.