by Henry Hoke
First published 2021
Two film students navigate early 2000s Manhattan when something impossible happens. They find themselves caught inside a warped version of a beloved film, forced to live through its sequel again and again. The repetition becomes a prison, but also a strange kind of freedom. Each loop reveals new layers of their friendship, their obsessions with celebrity culture, and their dreams of making art that lasts forever. The city around them shifts and changes while they remain stuck, watching the same scenes play out with different meanings each time. What starts as a surreal comedy about movie obsession becomes something deeper about the pain and joy of repetition, the weight of artistic ambition, and the way reality bends around the stories we tell ourselves. At its heart, this is a story about two friends discovering what it means to be trapped in the very thing they thought they wanted most.
Genres: literary-fiction, fantasy, contemporary, magical-realism
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, time-loop
Setting: Manhattan
Period: early 2000s
167 pages · Paperback · WTAW Press