If you begin watching Palm Springs just because you saw Andy Samberg (Brooklyn Nine-Nine) in a Hawaiian shirt on a pool floatie in the marketing and figured, This ought to be good for a ridiculous laugh,” you would be correct. Yet, that would be understating what is surely one of the best films of the year. This is the epitome of a movie where the less you know going into it, the better. So, hopefully you have already seen it and know, it’s a Groundhog Day-esque, romantic comedy that transcends both genres to deliver something unique, thought-provoking, and yes, ridiculously funny.
After the seemingly carefree but cynical Nyles (Samberg) saves Sarah (Cristin Milloti, Wolf of Wall Street) from a potential wedding toast nightmare, he continues to display oddly perfect timing and charm until the pair finds themselves on the verge of hooking up in the desert. Up to this point you are getting exactly what you expect, but then Roy (J.K. Simmons perfect as always) shows up firing arrows, much to the surprise of Sarah, then you realize that these characters have found themselves wrapped up in one of those infinite time-loop things you may have heard about.
As Sarah rebels against the parameters of her new found predicament, you understand that Nyles has lived it all before, countless times, and has since embraced the fact that nothing matters, and is content to just live each day with as little effort as possible.
Lots of effort however, went into the writing of Andy Siara (Lodge 49) and the direction of Max Barbakow (The Duke) who each make their feature film debuts with Palm Springs. There are a couple of softball lobbed twists or reveals in the movie that are impossible to not see coming, but they were able to add unique plot points into a familiar premise, and infuse it with the humor expected with a Lonely Island production. Despite endless ways for the characters to spend their day once they are both content to live in the moment, they show some highlights and montages but don’t overdo it, which allows them to dedicate enough of the film’s perfectly timed 90 minutes to its other elements.
The comedic touch that Samberg possesses, and the laudable energy and intensity that Milioti brings to the table, blend perfectly to create a pairing that consistently brings a smile to your face even when their characters are in various states of denial. While the film is full of well-earned laughs, at times its humor can be subtlety dark, which isn’t surprising given the underlying subtext, and Samberg and Milioti both excel in pulling that off. Their timing and chemistry not only serve the highly comedic elements, but it also translates into this budding relationship that’s trying to happen simultaneously with their own introspective journey’s.
You can imagine that the pair grew exceptionally close memorizing their bar dance routine, with a better payoff than Johnny and Baby’s in Dirty Dancing, but an honest conversation during a mushroom trip cemented that they were more than time-loop friends. The scene is brilliantly written, acted and shot, as Sarah shows her vulnerability and Nyles desperately tries not to. That’s when the tone of the film changes course — that doesn’t mean that it stops being funny — it just adds an additional layer of depth and sincerity to the story.
What if you were able to deal with issues and trauma that you can’t get past, and instead of waking up with the same shame and doubt repeatedly for years of your life, you had the opportunity to deal with it and not waste your tomorrows. That individual love story is just as beautiful as the one that Nyles and Sarah share together, and it’s why the film works on so many different levels.
These two characters show up to this wedding both dealing with doubts about love and relationships, with the thought that people are only together because nobody can stand to be alone. Living the same day repeatedly while together affords them the time and framework to work towards an existential understanding of what intimacy is about. This last quarter of the film is thoughtful, sweet and of course contains one of those rom-com speeches which is sure to be talked about for a long time.
Palm Springs is a feel very-good comedy that effectively blends different genres, appealing to your romantic side while managing to be both interesting and laugh-out-loud funny. At a time where so many people are living a reality where, “yesterday, today, tomorrow” are all the same, this film is very different. It is uniquely satisfying from its start, to its emphatic period.
