Summary

• Looper is a mind-bending movie that leaves many aspects of its world unexplained, including the origin and limitations of telekinesis (TK).
• The presence of TK in Looper raises more questions than it provides answers, leaving viewers to wonder about the mutation and its manifestations.
• While the TK element in Looper adds to the sci-fi genre label, it doesn't contribute significantly to the story and could have been omitted without affecting the plot.

2012's Looper's ending.

Looper stars both Jason Gordon-Levitt and Bruce Willis as two versions of the same man named Joe from different points in time. Looper's time travel elements make up the bulk of the movie's narrative, along with temporal technology's legal situation in the future. The world is fleshed out an impressive amount for a standalone movie with sometimes just a ing reference being required to create a thrilling sense of wonder. However, while some of these compelling loose ends don't contribute to the overall narrative, there's one huge piece of incomplete Looper lore that is tightly wound into the movie's story.

Looper's Telekinesis Leaves Multiple Unanswered Questions

Rian Johnson leaves a key part of Looper's canon unexplored

Time travel isn't the only science-fiction plot device used in Looper. As well as the movie's temporal elements, the story features characters capable of telekinesis. The ability, which is referred to as TK in the film, gives certain individuals the ability to move objects with the power of their minds. However, just as in other time-bending sci-fi movies like Looper, the presence of additional factors like TK raises more questions than it provides answers.

All the information on Looper's telekinesis is provided by Gordon-Levitt's character very early on in the movie. Young Joe's voice-over states that around 10% of the population has developed the "TK mutation." This implies the ability is linked to some form of genetic factor. Despite this nugget of information, there's no context given on when or how this mutation occurred. Instead, the audience is left to wonder as to how the ability manifests or when the 10% in question started to discover they had the gene TK at all.

The favorite trick of those capable of TK would seem to be levitating a coin a short distance from the palm of their hand. This is referenced and shown a number of times in the movie, but it's also the extent of the power for almost all of Looper's TK characters. Joe's voice-over confirms that while TK exists, the ability immediately fell short of what humanity expected:

"When it first appeared, everyone thought we were gonna get superheroes. But it turns out this was it. Now it's just a bunch of a**holes who think they're blowing your mind floating quarters."

As well as the mystery surrounding the origin of the TK mutation, there's also no explanation given as to why the ability is so weak for most of the 10%. In addition, Sara's slightly more pronounced TK talent of levitating a cigarette lighter rather than a quarter can be added to the list of unanswered questions, as well as the implication that most TKs can seemingly only manipulate metal objects. However, Cid doesn't seem to be limited to metal when it comes to his much more powerful version of the TK ability - a talent that also receives no explanation.

How We Think Telekenesis Works In Looper

Looper provides clues and hints as to TK's origin

Despite not painting a complete picture of TK, Looper does provide various context clues that allow viewers to read between the lines of one of the many sci-fi movie tropes in the story. One of the most prominent comes from a billboard shown during Young Joe's TK monologue. An in-universe corporation called "Maxx Labs" offers a service that tests for the presence of the TK mutation. This could mean that the ability does not naturally manifest. The gene could be dormant in those who carry it, and the discovery of said mutation means it can be artificially stimulated.

Looper is set in a fictionalized future version of "our" timeline. The discovery of a dormant TK gene due to future scientific advancement would explain the lack of TK in the real world.

In the world of Looper, the TK gene could have entered a dormant state long ago as part of the natural evolution of humanity. As shown, the ability is largely useless in the majority of carriers, so it could naturally have just been bred out of humans as a species. However, even dormant genes can resurface given a certain set of conditions, and so the right two carriers could have created a child who naturally presented the TK powers.

This genetic inheritance theory is ed by the fact that Sara's slightly more innate TK talents would appear to have been ed onto her son, Cid, albeit in a much more extreme form. Sara is shown to be able to manipulate a cigarette lighter, which is noticeably larger than a coin. Cid is Sara's biological son, and so his power has not only been inherited from his mother but magnified. The identity of Cid's father is never revealed in Looper, but it's possible he too was a carrier of the TK mutation. If so, this could explain Cid's unique talents.

Why Looper's Story Didn't REALLY Need Telekinesis

Cid could still have become the Rainmaker without TK

Although there are undertones of romance and revenge, Looper primarily aligns itself with other cool time loop movies. As such, it was always bound to be a very sci-fi-led affair. The feeble presence of a trope such as superhuman abilities feels like nothing more than an attempt to intensify the genre label. Its contribution to the story is minimal, and Cid could have become the Rainmaker without his TK abilities.

Cid's motive for closing all the Loops as the Rainmaker in the movie's alternate future was to avenge the death of his mother at the hands of Bruce Willis' Old Joe. While the Rainmaker's fearsome TK abilities likely made his takeover in the future much easier, it would have made him a much more intimidating figure if he achieved the same feat without this advantage. Instead, the TK payoff in Looper is very sudden at the end of the movie and doesn't justify its washy presence throughout the rest of the story.

Looper is available to stream on Netflix.