SUMMARY:
By 2044, the United States has suffered economic collapse, causing severe social decay and growth in organized crime. In addition, a strange mutation has occurred in 10% of the population, giving them limited telekinetic powers. In 2074 Time travel is invented, but is immediately outlawed. In addition, tracking technology has rendered it nearly impossible to dispose of bodies secretly, so when crime bosses want to eliminate a target they send them back to the past to be killed by "loopers": hired guns paid in silver to kill whoever is sent to them. When crime bosses want to end a looper's contract, they send the looper's future self back to be killed by his past self, called "closing the loop". Failing to kill one's future self in this manner is punishable by death.
In 2044, Joe Simmons (Gordon-Levitt) is a looper for a crime syndicate in Kansas. His boss Abe (Daniels) was sent from the future to manage the loopers, and owns a club that Joe frequents, and where he spends time with Suzie (Perabo), a showgirl. Abe also controls his own group of enforcers, the "Gat Men", including the insecure Kid Blue (Segan), who is desperate to prove himself to Abe. One night, Joe's friend Seth Richards (Dano) visits him in a panic, telling him that he failed to close his loop when his future self was sent back. Before his future self escaped, he mentioned someone called the "Rainmaker": a mastermind who has taken over organized crime and is closing all loops for unknown reasons. Joe attempts to protect Seth, but betrays him to Abe instead of surrendering half of his silver. The mafia captures Seth and starts mutilating him so that the injuries will cripple his future self. Old Seth desperately turns himself in and is immediately killed.
Later, Joe is sent on another contract, but hesitates when he realizes the target is his future self, allowing him to escape. Later meeting in a diner, Old Joe (Willis) tells Joe that it was the Rainmaker who sent him back to be killed, and that his wife was killed during his capture. Old Joe killed his captors and sent himself back in time in an attempt to kill the Rainmaker as a child. Joe nevertheless tries to kill Old Joe and fulfill his contract, but both are forced to flee when they are attacked by the Gat Men. During the battle Joe tears off a scrap of a map Old Joe had, bearing a marked location and a string of digits.
Joe follows the map to a farmhouse owned by Sara Rollins (Blunt), who lives with her son, Cid. When Joe shows Sara the paper, Sara recognizes the digits as Cid's birthday and the serial number of the hospital he was born in. Three children were born in the hospital that day, and Old Joe intends to kill all three. As the two become close, Joe learns that Sara is a telekinetic, and that Cid was raised by Sara's sister for most of his life until she died, and that Cid does not believe that Sara is his real mother. One day they are visited and interrogated by Gat Man Jesse Goldhar, who is killed by Cid when he falls down the stairs and lets out a telekinetic blast, far beyond the normal power of a telekinetic, leading Joe to realize that Cid is the Rainmaker. Sara confirms that Cid inadvertently killed her sister when he lost control of his powers. Meanwhile, Old Joe is captured by Kid Blue.
Joe tells Sara and Cid to flee, surmising that his employers or Old Joe will target the farm. Meanwhile, Old Joe breaks free, killing Abe and all the Gat Men except for Kid Blue, and makes his way to the farm. As the two Joes confront each other, Kid Blue attacks but is killed by Joe. Old Joe then attempts to kill Cid, prompting Cid to let out another telekinetic blast. However, before Cid can kill Old Joe, Sara calms him down by reassuring him that his mother is with him. Old Joe then tries to kill Cid again, but Sara stands between them. Joe realizes that if Old Joe kills Sara, it will cause Cid to become the Rainmaker in the future, creating a closed time loop. With Old Joe out of range, Joe shoots himself, erasing Old Joe from existence. Sara and Cid, now safe, take Joe's silver and return to their home.
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