A man and woman wake up separately. They meet at a friend/relative’s wedding…
There might be a spark between them but then the day ends…
A man and woman wake up separately. They meet at a friend/relative’s wedding…
To say much more about the plot of Palm Springs would ruin the enjoyment but suffice to say it is a time loop movie in the vein of Groundhog Day, Happy Death Day, or Netflix’s Russian Doll, where our protagonists end up repeating the same day over and over for some reason, technological, karmic, or otherwise.
Time Is on My Side, Yes It Is…
If you are already looking to bail, that’s understandable. Time loop movies are the marmite of science fiction/fantasy concepts. More than alien invasions or cybernetic threats, which can be filtered through various lenses to widen, or narrow their appeal, some people just hate the repetition involved in time loops. My own mother hated Groundhog Day, a movie I loved. Each repeated iteration of Phil Connors’ personal hell drove her further and further into her own. And I’ve yet to finish the highly acclaimed Russian Doll as my partner got sick and tired of the repetition after a few episodes.
I enjoy a well worn concept as long as they have some fresh life injected into them, where there’s at least some semblance that the filmmakers looked at what came before. For the time loop genre Groundhog Day is foundational, with an amazing performance by Bill Murray. Timecrimes/Los Cronocrímenes put a more scientific spin on things, sending a hapless time traveler back in time over and over again, where he ended up being the source, and solution to, most of his own problems. Happy Death Day added a snarky millennial spin on the format, and another fantastic performance from Jessica Rothe, throwing in a murder mystery for good measure. It even managed to outdo itself with the sequel
So what, if anything, does Palm Springs bring to the table?
It Takes Two to Tango… in Palm Springs
For one thing it adds a winning cast, with Andy Samberg (Brooklyn Nine-Nine) and Cristin Milioti (How I Met Your Mother, Black Mirror’s USS Callister) providing the central pairing, and with generous sprinklings of J.K. Simmons, Peter Gallagher, and Jacqueline Obrador thrown in for good measure.
Secondly, it mixes things up a little, by joining the action, mid-time loop. As the movie begins, one of the central pair has already been trapped in the loop for some time, having gone through all the accompanying existential angst and crises, before accidentally getting the other one involved.
It also helps that it’s pretty funny.
For those sick tired of the formula, the plot moves through the stages of dealing with being trapped in an infinite time loop (anger, denial, bargaining, drugs, dancing, and “science!”) in short order, building a fun relationship between the leads, while revealing more and more about their pasts through their never-ending present.
As one of them catches up with what’s going on and tries to escape the loop, they have to deal with the other, who has been so worn down by repeating the same day over and over again that they’ve essentially given up. Until that is, the possibility arises of having someone to share eternity with, before the risk of then losing them forever appears.
Hell Is Other People… or Is It?
Palm Springs thankfully avoids some of the ickiness that dogged Bill Murray’s courtship of Andie McDowell in Groundhog Day. It doesn’t ignore it outright and actually addresses the issue nicely. I mean, if you were trapped in an infinite time loop with zero consequences from day to day and a limited radius to travel, who wouldn’t you try to “bump uglies” with? (Consensually of course.)
As it questions what’s worth having in a universe of infinite possibilities, with almost zero risk, Palm Springs might not have anything too profound to say but the charm of the leads sees the film through to the end. Samberg and Milioti deliver such endearing performances that the movie would work even without the time loop. Anytime things seem to be settling into a boring repeated rhythm, Simmons appears as a wild card to mix things up.
For anyone who doesn’t like the concept of time loop movies, despite bailing on Russian Doll, my partner made it all the way through this one and even enjoyed it! That’s high praise, high praised indeed.
A man and woman wake up separately. They meet at a friend/relative’s wedding…
There might be a spark between them but then the day ends…
A man and woman wake up separately. They meet at a friend/relative’s wedding…
Palm Springs
90 Mins
Director: Max Barbakow
Writer: Andy Siara
Cast: Andy Samberg, Cristin Milioti, J.K. Simmons, Peter Gallagher, Meredith Hagner, Camila Mendes, Tyler Hoechlin, and Jacqueline Obradors
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