SPOILER ALERT: the following article contains massive spoilers, including the ending. If you have not yet seen the movie, proceed at your own risk, or better, come back to this article later!
Trapped in a time loop that constantly repeats the day of his murder, former special forces agent Roy Pulver (Frank Grillo) uncovers clues about a secret government project that could unlock the mystery behind his untimely death. In a race against the clock, Pulver must hunt down Colonel Ventor (Mel Gibson), the powerful head of the government program, while outrunning skilled ruthless assassins determined to keep him from the truth in order to break out of the loop, save his family and live once again for tomorrow.
SPOILERS AHEAD
Boss Level Plot Summary and Synopsis
Roy Pulver, a retired Delta Force soldier in Atlanta, has been stuck in a time loop, and has learned the day’s patterns through many previous loops. He wakes each day, avoids an assassin in his apartment and an attack by a gunman on a helicopter outside his window, then escapes his apartment before it explodes. He has been able to elude more assassins throughout the day, but finds himself unable to figure out how to survive a final attack after midnight, waking back up in his apartment on the next loop.
On the day before Roy entered the loop, his estranged wife Jemma had asked Roy to visit her at defense contractor Dynow Labs under the pretense of a job interview. The two argue over Joe, their son, as Jemma has not told Joe that Roy is his father. When Col. Clive Ventor, head of Dynow, discovers Roy near Jemma’s highly classified project, he has him escorted out, but not before Jemma obtains a sample of Joe’s hair.
In the loop, Roy tries to call Jemma but instead reaches Ventor, who tells him that Jemma died from a lab accident the day before. Roy becomes suspicious. On the next loop, he finds Joe at Underground Atlanta, skipping school for a video game tournament. Roy spends the day with Joe but does not mention Jemma’s death. The assassins arrive to kill Roy, and Roy uses his body to protect Joe, telling him as he dies that he is his father.
When Roy next wakes, he realizes that the assassins had followed him with a dermal tracking device. Through more trial-and-error loops, Roy finds a way to remove the tracker and sneak into Dynow, killing several guards and assassins, but always stopped by Ventor. Ventor reveals to Roy that Jemma’s project is the Osiris Spindle, a quantum device capable of rewriting history, which Ventor planned to use to set himself up as the world’s dictator. Ventor admits he was responsible for Jemma’s death after an argument the night before. As she had started the Spindle and no one else knows how to operate it, Ventor warns Roy the Spindle will destroy the world if it runs too long.
On further loops, Roy makes the connection to the Egyptian god of the afterlife, Osiris, and realizes Jemma must have placed him in the Spindle to stop Ventor. While he is able to further infiltrate Dynow and kill Ventor, Roy learns the assassins were sent to kill Joe, and arrives too late. As he mourns over Joe, the Osiris Spindle explodes and destroys the world.
Roy spends several loops in a despondent state, then decides to spend several more loops with Joe, staying with him until the Spindle’s explosion. In one loop, he learns that Jemma had called Joe that morning, and realizes he can save her. After determining the exact time and place she died at Ventor’s hands in Dynow, Roy uses the next loop to hijack the helicopter, get to Dynow, kill the waiting assassins, and stop Ventor before he kills Jemma.
Roy tells Jemma he has been spending his attempts being a father to Joe, and that he saw the end of the world. Jemma explains that they may be able to stop the chain reaction if Roy enters the Osiris Spindle which will reset the day one final time for Roy; however, he will die for real this time if something happens to him.
The Ending
With the knowledge of how to defeat Ventor and save both Jemma and Joe, Roy enters the Spindle.
Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 3.0).