Palm Springs (2020)

Dir Max Barbakow

Written by Andy Siara, Max Barbakow

Andy Samberg, Cristin Milioti, JK Simmons, Peter Gallagher, Tyler Hoechlin, June Squibb.

At the wedding weekend where his girlfriend (who has been cheating on him) is a bridesmaid, Nyles (Samberg) meets Sarah (Milioti), and the pair – clearly both unhappy with their lives, bond and head off and chat.

While they are chatting, an incident occurs and Nyles runs to a nearby cave; and she is sucked into a ‘vortex’. The next day, Sarah wakes up to find it is the wedding day AGAIN!

When she finds Nyles, she discovers that he too has been reliving the same day – for a very long time.

As they are both stuck in this ‘purgatory’ together, they bond and become friends. But as the ‘day’ go(es) by over and over again, Sarah’s mood changes and her priorities change, desperate to escape the time loop.

Very different take on the ‘Groundhog Day’ trope, with Samberg and Milioti nailing their roles as the leads. Samberg, fresh on his ending role at Brooklyn Nine-Nine, plays the long suffering Nyles very well. He is the more mature of the two characters, having lived in the time-loop for a never specified length of time (somewhere between forty years and forty million years is what the directors and writers came up with).

Milioti as Sarah is probably the MVP as the black sheep of her family, who has to wake up to a mistake she made the night before the wedding over and over again. Her emotional state during the film is so raw, and well done.

The direction is sound, but without any ‘wow’ or memorable shots, and the screenplay, co written by the director is darkly funny, and not for kids (there is strong language including a ‘c’ bomb). There are some very funny moments throughout, and I genuinely laughed out loud at several of them.

There are also some genuinely touching, and adult themes throughout, which only serves to strengthen the film as a whole. These moments come from the main two cast members, but secondary cast member Simmons who plays another ‘prisoner’ of the time warp also has some very mature (and also deeply hilarious) moments in the movie.

The chemistry between the leads is impeccable, and the casting could not have been better. The supporting cast are also equally on point, and all do their respective roles well.

A strong recommend from me.

4.5/5