Palm Springs (2020)
dir. Max Barbakow
Rated: R
image: ©2020 Neon/Hulu
“It’s one of those infinite time loop situations you might have heard about.”
Yes, I just spoiled the biggest plot surprise of Palm Springs, the new romcom starring Andy Samberg and Cristin Milioti. Luckily – both for me and the film’s marketing push (the trailer also spills the big secret) – this charming and wacky movie has plenty more going for it.
Palm Springs is a delightful reworking of the central conceit of the Bill Murray/Andie MacDowell movie Groundhog Day, in which Murray’s character is doomed to relive the exact same day over and over and over until fate/karma/the universe decides he has grown enough as a human being to be let out of his hellish purgatory. What sets Palm Springs apart is that this time, two characters – really three, but I’ll get there – go through the experience together, and it leans into the raw nihilism with which Groundhog Day only briefly flirted.
I can hear you asking, “Raw nihilism? In a romcom?” Yes, in fact, it’s the movie’s acknowledgement that we’re all participating in a giant cosmic joke that makes the inevitable arc of the characters that much sweeter. It also sets up the biggest existential quandary of the picture. As opposed to Groundhog Day, the characters here can’t learn or grow or be-a-better-person their way out of their predicament. Just like in life, it’s more important to do those things because they are the right thing to do, not because of any moral desert you might get out of it. That’s really the most radical statement that Palm Springs ultimately makes.
As the movie begins, we meet Nyles at a very strange time in his life. He’s been trapped attending the same wedding in Palm Springs for a very, very long time after stumbling into a time loop portal in a cave on the outskirts of town. On this iteration of the day, Nyles convinces Sarah, the maid of honor and sister to the bride, to hang out with him after the reception when he saves her from making a fool of herself during her toast to the newlyweds.
The couple starts getting intimate when a madman comes out of nowhere and shoots Nyles in the back with an arrow. Nyles runs – with madman in hot pursuit – back to the cave with the portal, and Sarah chases after them both, desperate to understand just what the hell is happening. As Nyles crawls into the cave and toward the otherworldly glowing light inside it in order to hit the reset button, he turns to see Sarah just outside, and begs her not to follow him. Would you be able to resist? Sarah can’t.
Aside from its similarities to Groundhog Day, Palm Springs also put me in mind of one of the best TV sitcoms of the last decade, creator Michael Schur’s The Good Place. Whether intentionally or not, screenwriter Andy Siara’s screenplay for Palm Springs has some of the same philosophical preoccupations as The Good Place. Questions like “What does it mean to be a good person” percolate in the background as Palm Springs wrestles with an issue that The Good Place confronted in its last season.
Nyles and Sarah must come to terms with the monotonous hell that eternity – even in a paradise – would actually be. In this existence, both characters are in a beautiful setting with essentially no responsibilities. They can do whatever they please with no consequences, because the next day finds them right back in the same place.
Ultimately, Palm Springs finds hope in the meaning of going through this experience – an exaggerated metaphor for life – with someone else. The movie comes to the conclusion that doing it alone is a fate worse than death. That’s revealed in the smallest of moments, like when Nyles realizes he’s been stuck in this situation for so long that he can no longer remember what his job was in the life he had before the time loop. And in a plot twist that I won’t spoil, Sarah has the same existential crisis during her daily reset, when she rediscovers a piece of information about herself that she had forgotten.
Just like with The Good Place, all this philosophical pondering comes with a healthy dose of goofy comedy. The jokes here aren’t as finely tuned – or, frankly, as downright comically absurd – as they are in the sitcom about the afterlife, but they’re certainly good for a laugh.
The two leads, Andy Samberg as Nyles and Cristin Milioti as Sarah, share an easy chemistry on screen that is effervescent. There is one sequence in particular where the pair – in their infinite boredom of reliving the same day – execute a meticulously choreographed dance routine in a bar. It is priceless.
I’m not Andy Samberg’s biggest fan. He’s the weakest part of another Michael Schur creation, the TV show Brooklyn Nine-Nine. While I’ve always liked the projects in which he’s involved, his persona comes off as too over-the-top. His performance in Palm Springs is the least schtick-y of his career, and his interpretation of Nyles’s dark despair is a major turning point for the actor. Cristin Milioti can basically do no wrong.
Legendary character actor J.K. Simmons turns up as a third person stuck in the time loop. His character, Roy, is locked into the never-ending day after one wild, cocaine fueled night with Nyles. Roy is pissed about it, and he turns up on occasion to torture Nyles for ruining his life. Simmons appears on screen for maybe fifteen minutes, and he succeeds in stealing the show for every one of them. It’s the eventual peace that his character makes with his situation that allows Nyles to become a better person. That the revelation comes with an arrow hilariously launched point-blank into Nyles’s chest is just icing on the cake.
Palm Springs is the feature film debut of director Max Barbakow. Writer Andy Siara’s first draft of the screenplay – which he wrote while in film school at AFI – didn’t include any science fiction elements. It actually had more in common with Leaving Las Vegas than Groundhog Day, according to Siara. No matter it’s route to the screen, the final product is a surprisingly light-hearted comedy with more serious philosophical underpinnings. It’s a sweet confection that also makes you think.
Why it got 4 stars:
- Palm Springs is an excellent mix of goofy, escapist fun and thought-provoking philosophy. I’m willing to bet that the re-watch factor on this one is quite high.
Things I forgot to mention in my review, because, well, I'm the Forgetful Film Critic:
- The name drop of the fake hair product Orchid Explosion by Fournier is brilliant. The marketing team for the movie even whipped up a website for the hair spray, where they sell t-shirts for the nonexistent brand. Hilarious.
- Nyles might have forgotten what he did for a living in the before time, but he doesn’t forget about his dog, who is named Fred. That feels right, just, and proper.
- I could have written a whole other review about how Nyles being stuck in a time loop is analogous to our current quarantine/pandemic situation.
Close encounters with people in movie theaters:
- Is it just me, or did this movie come out of nowhere? Much like Tiger King in the early days of the pandemic (which already seems like years ago), I heard nothing about Palm Springs, and then, BAM, it was everywhere. It’s currently playing in select drive-in movie theaters, but I saw it at home on Hulu.