Loop (2020 film)

Renee, a 13-year-old non-speaking autistic girl, sits patiently in a canoe waiting for a partner while playing with a sound app on her phone. Marcus arrives late and the camp counselor tells him to partner with her, much to his annoyance. Marcus attempts to speak with Renee, who is only able to mutter and make noises to express her feelings. When Marcus attempts to show off his paddling skills, Renee is unimpressed and starts rocking the boat. Marcus asks Renee to tell him what she wants and she responds by showing a poop emoji on her phone and signaling to a couple of outhouses. Marcus obliges and paddles her to land.

When they pass by some reeds, Renee reaches out to let them brush past her arms. She has Marcus paddle through multiple times, and he realizes that she didn't actually need to use the outhouses and just wanted to touch the reeds. He tries doing the same thing, and then Renee goes back to her phone. This gives Marcus an idea to connect with her. He paddles them to a sewer tunnel and has Renee play her phone so that the sound can reverberate. At first, she enjoys it. Then a speedboat races by and the sound reverberates, overwhelming Renee. She frantically paddles out of the tunnel, nearly colliding with the speedboat in the process. When they crash onto land, Renee has a meltdown and throws her phone, which falls into the lake. Sobbing, she hides under the canoe while Marcus watches the chaos unfold in bewilderment.

Eventually, Marcus pulls up a reed and sits by the canoe until Renee calms down. She sits up and takes the reed where she begins to giggle. The two repeat the sound that the phone made together. Marcus and Renee get back into the canoe and paddle back to the camp. In a post-credits scene, Renee's recovered phone is resting in a bowl of rice and it receives a message from Marcus asking if she wants to go canoeing again.

• Madison Bandy as Renee
• Christiano Delgado as Marcus
• Louis Gonzales as Camp Counselor
• Asher Brodkey as Additional voices

Mark Orton composed the music for Loop.[6] The score was released on February 28, 2020.[7]

Loop was released on Disney+ on January 10, 2020.[8][9][10]

Loop received mostly positive reviews. Reviewers commented on its decision to portray the world through Renee's eyes. Jonathon Briggs wrote "By training our eyes to imagine what the world might look like from someone else’s perspective, "Loop" encourages us to practice empathy in what feels like an increasingly divisive and judgmental world."[11]

The autistic community responded enthusiastically to Loop. Autistic people on Twitter expressed excitement prior to the film's release.[12] Autistic reviewers praised the portrayal of Renee for being positive and authentic.[13][14]

• Loop at IMDb
• Loop on Disney+