The best thing about Tony Elliott’s ARQ is that the film seems to very much be focused on Robbie Amell’s Renton (ugh) and while Amell is fine in his role, it’s actually Rachael Taylor’s Hannah that ends up taking the mantle of ARQ and running with it.

Perhaps Elliott drew on his experience of working on Orphan Black to illustrate the story of a kick-ass female, although it very much felt that Amell is positioned as the star of this feature film, (and how great is it to see a Canadian film at the festival that’s a straight up actioner). There is a plot involving Torus, a global corporation and a time loop, and if it’s obvious that the film takes elements of Mr. Robot and Between and the central conceit of Groundhog Day, but maybe more so Edge of Tomorrow, forget all of this. ARQ manages to find its own rhythm and momentum, but still kind of struggles to feel very theatrical, which means that it is kind of perfect for Netflix (and thrill).

[star v=3]