‘Same Day with Someone’ (2025) Netflix Movie Review - A Time-Loop Dramedy that’s Sweet and Messy

I walked into Same Day with Someone expecting something cute, a little predictable, maybe a few tears, but hoping for something fresh in the time-loop genre. In large part, it delivers in ways that charm and ways that irritate. It’s not great, but it has enough personality and heart that I’m glad I watched it. Mesa (played by Jarinporn Joonkiat) is well set up: she has control, prestige, and a curated life.

Then disaster hits. On August 8, everything that can go wrong does: the priceless artifact she is supposed to preserve is smashed, her fiancé calls off their wedding, and her sense of identity teeters. Then the time loop kicks in, and we get the same day again and again. Early loops are frantic, sometimes unpleasant, but there’s an arc: Mesa is forced out of perfectionism and into empathy.

What I liked: the movie makes good use of the time-loop device. Instead of just making fun of repetition, it nudges Mesa toward seeing people she’s ignored: her assistant Ning, her friend Ben. The way she keeps trying to fix the artifact, then shifts toward helping Ning, is the strongest part. The twist that Ben also becomes trapped, and that Mesa’s journey isn’t purely about herself, gives the movie emotional stakes. The scene where she saves Ning (from a suicide attempt), rather than focusing only on her own failures, gives the film its emotional payoff. The ending, Mesa finally waking up to a new day after she stops trying to control everything and begins to care for others, is satisfying.

Also, the actors do solid work. Jarinporn Joonkiat carries Mesa’s transformation credibly; the supporting cast, especially Ning and Ben, help ground the story. Visually, the film is pleasant: museum halls, artifact cases, temples, well-lit interiors, nice dresses, too. The fashion, the lighting, the look of it generally works: it feels polished, which helps sell the more magical/romantic parts. Now, for what didn’t work so well—about 60% of my complaints. First: pacing. The repetition is inherent to time loops, but Same Day with Someone overstays its welcome in many of the loops that don’t add enough new texture.

Some loops feel like padding. You start to wonder whether the film is repeating to make a point, or just because it needs to fill the runtime. At times, the comedy tries too hard; reactions are exaggerated for laughs so often that they border on cartoonish, undermining the emotional truth of the more serious moments. The humor is uneven: some is sweet and earned; some feels forced.

Also, the character of Mesa is at first painted as a kind of “rich girl who has it all,” to the point where her initial bliss feels unrelatable, even shallow. The film tries to correct that via the disaster + loop, but I felt a tension: is the film judging her too harshly, or trying to make us feel bad for her without giving her enough flaws early so the growth feels earned? Related: the twist/ reveal about Ning’s background, the suicide case, etc., feels a bit sudden. It’s important and moving, but the setup could have been more subtle or foreshadowed better. The late-movie shift in motive (saving someone else, not just self) is good, but I think more groundwork would have made it hit harder.

There are moments where the romantic subplot (with Ben) feels like it’s sighing, “please give me something new,” but instead gives familiar beats: bucket lists, confessions of feelings, that “maybe I’m using him to escape this loop” line. These are standard tropes. The film leans on them too easily. The ending is emotionally satisfying but narratively somewhat neat, a little too clean. It asks us to accept her inner growth, and we do, but it glosses over some of the nastier stuff (her own vanity, her failures) a bit too fast.

Another issue: tone swings. The film wants both rom-com fluff and drama, conflict and introspection, humor and sorrow. Sometimes the shifts work (especially when laughter follows a serious beat), but sometimes they jar. There’s a loop where she tries multiple interventions to fix the artifact, to explain things to her ex, to prepare for the day — these are emotionally heavy, then suddenly comedic exaggerations. The transitions aren’t always seamless. Because of that, emotional stakes sometimes feel less weighty than they should.

Also, I think the movie under-explores some of its thematic potential: privilege, image, and control. It raises these ideas: Mesa’s life was built on status, people pleasing, her reputation as curator, etc. But beyond that, the film doesn’t always dig as deep as one might hope. For example, the red ribbon goddess/temple symbolism is interesting, but occasionally feels like window dressing rather than integrated into the core of her transformation. It’s there, but I kept waiting for more connection, more discomfort.

Despite the flaws, some moments work beautifully. The rescue of Ning, the decision that she doesn’t just want to escape but to make something right, the small moments of bonding between Mesa & Ben (not just romantic gestures, but conversations, failures, admissions) bring warmth. Also, the resolution doesn’t attempt to wrap everything up in a perfect bow—with loss, with imperfect self-awareness—and that helps.

To sum up: Same Day with Someone does not reinvent the time-loop rom-com, but it performs it with enough heart, humor, and occasional depth to make it a satisfying watch. If you come in expecting genre novelty, you’ll be a little frustrated. But if you want something comforting yet emotionally resonant, it delivers.

Final Score- [4/10]
Reviewed by - Anjali Sharma
Follow @AnjaliS54769166 on Twitter
Publisher at Midgard Times