The time loop comedy is easily the best film since 1917 had its wide release back in January. Andy Samberg, Cristin Milioti and Director Max Barbakow use the time looping shenanigans in Palm Springs to examine how a listless existence is a lot more fun with a companion by your side.
Palm Springs is now streaming on Hulu.
Andy Siara’s script does a great job of circumventing some common touchstones found in many time loop films. Matthew Compton’s restrained 80’s inspired score captures the melancholy and trippy time loop beats. Combining those elements with MIltioti and Samberg’s chemistry results in the best romantic comedy pairing since Adam Sandler–Drew Barrymore in 50 First Dates.
Nyles (Samberg) and Sarah (Milioti) are damaged in different ways. While these character flaws are obviously used for comedic effect, what helps Palm Springs transcend its Groundhog Day trappings is the emotional elements.
Milioti does a great job nailing the different notes required of her character. Sarah’s acerbic wit is a great match for Nyles more wayward approach to existence. Samberg gives a flawless performance in Palm Springs. Depending on the situation, Nyles can be charismatic, aloof, scared and mysterious. In the film’s 2nd act, there’s a conversation between Nyles and Sarah. The deep-seated sense of regret, fear and sheer denial that comes across solely through Samberg’s face is palpable. In short, this is one of if not the best performances turned in by an actor this year.
J.K. Simmons and Peter Gallagher lead an impressive supporting cast. Revealing anything about J.K.’s character would be a massive spoiler, but his performance is thoroughly funny, often terrifying and offers seldom, but much-needed poignancy when called upon.
This ends the mostly spoiler-free portion of review. Go to the next page for the unabridged musings on the film’s plot, characters and more. For now, here’s the rating.
Nihilistic Nyles
There may not be a worse existence than endlessly attending a wedding for a couple you barely know. The only connection Nyles has to the wedding couple is as the boyfriend to a bridesmaid, Misty (Meredith Hagner).
Barbakow and Siara’s script makes a bold decision to never show what event led to Nyles getting stuck in the time loop. When Palm Springs begins, it’s just another day in an endless cycle for Nyles. On this particular day, we are treated to Nyles waking up to Misty’s voice, floating in a pool and attending the wedding.
Fast forward to the nuptials
During the wedding ceremony for Tala (Camila Mendes) and Abe (Tyler Hoechlin), Misty gives a truly awful toast, then turns the mic over to the maid of honor, Sarah for her toast. A clearly buzzed Sarah is completely unprepared for this turn of events, but before she can stumble her way to the stage, Nyles steps in.
Nyles is quite the charmer in this initial wedding sequence. He delivers a stirring wedding toast featuring sweat anecdotes about Tala and successfully flirts with Sarah. Not everything is on the up-and-up as a clearly nervous Nyles suggests they take the conversation to a more private location.
During the fun foreplay between the two, Nyles is shot in the chest with an arrow by a currently unknown assailant. A stunned Sarah follows the staggering Nyles to a weirdly luminescent cave and that’s when things become even weirder in Palm Springs.
Roundabout: The chemistry between Samberg and Milioti is immediate. Both are great at masking true pain with sarcasm to comedic and dramatic effects.
Sarah Throws the Time Loop for a, well …
The audience learns how the time loop works through Sarah experience. After getting sucked into the cave she wakes up to see the date on her phone is the same as the previous day. She freaks out and starts asking her father (Peter Gallagher) and other family members questions. Naturally, they have no clue what she is talking about.
A great shot by DP Quyen Tran through the window shows Nyles lounging in the pool and leads to the comedic highlight of the film. Sarah immediately confronts Nyles. First by hurling beer cans at him, which escalates to her jumping into the pool and eventually leads to Tala smashing her face on the pool deck.
Roundabout: Shoutout to Mendes for the phenomenal pratfall.
So, this is today. Today is yesterday and tomorrow is also today.
Nyles brings Sarah up to speed on how the time loop works. No matter how long you stay awake, the moment your eyes close, you will wake up at the same time on November 9 in the same place you began that day. Nyles and Sarah can travel as far as they want, but they will still wake up in Palm Springs. You can return to the cave, but the day will just start over. Most importantly, you can’t die in the loop. To sum it up:
I think your best bet is to learn how to just suffer existence
-Nyles
Roundabout: Such a prescient metaphor for today.
The Love Story
Nyles has accepted the time loop as his entire state of being and long given up trying to break out. He does seem to care about other people within the time loop, but doesn’t want to dredge up the past outside of the loop.
Sarah’s attitude is to constantly run away from her past. She’s is much more open about her past than Nyles.
The couple is almost irrevocably damaged but are great complements to each other. On their own, each of them can be charming, but mostly succumb to their worst instincts. After Nyles and Sarah sleep together, the biggest mistakes of each character are revealed.
The day before the wedding, Sarah slept with the groom and now thanks to the time loop, she has to relive her worst decision. After denying the two had slept together, Nyles comes clean that he and Sarah have had sex thousands of times. They both react differently to this massive lie.
Roundabout: I get that Nyles was hurt by Sarah’s reaction after not wanting to talk about their romantic entire. However, he used this reveal to really her Nyles, while Sarah’s reaction resembles how Nyles has reacted to every scenario in the time loop. Throws an awful, almost unrecoverable shade on Nyles as a character. He should have admitted having sex when Sarah asked him initially.
Nyles has a complete meltdown. He discovers what Sarah is running away from and doesn’t care. Seeks advice from Roy (more on him in a moment). Eventually, he comes to the realization that he’s in love with Sarah.
Roy’s Wedding Nightmare in Palm Springs
Sarah isn’t the only person to follow Nyles into the cave. Roy played to hilarious, terrifying, tragic and oddly touching perfection by J.K. Simmons is brought to the cave by Nyles after partying too hard. He’s the character that’s been hunting Nyles throughout the film.
Roy has more than a few reasons to hate Nyles. Unlike Nyles and Sarah, Roy doesn’t wake up in Palm Springs. He starts each day in Irvine, California and drives over for the wedding. Some days he kills Nyles and others he doesn’t.
Roy has a wife, son and daughter. Since he’s stuck in this time loop, he will never get to see his children grow up. After his meltdown, Nyles drives to Irvine to seek out Roy.
Roundabout: Makes Nyles seem like the villain.
Drive to Irvine
The scene with Nyles and Roy at the house in Irvine is the most poignant, while featuring the funniest line of the film. During this scene, Roy tells Nyles that he has to find his Irvine. More or less saying you have to find someone or something that makes this seemingly meaningless life have purpose. I’ll let Roy tell the joke:
Little Joey is watering dog s***. It’s weird
After killing Nyles one more time, we get caught up on Sarah’s activities.
Roundabout: Framing this sequence as a breakup between Roy and Nyles is brilliantly played by Samberg and Simmons.
Ending the Loop with a Bang
After Nyles comes clean, Sarah takes charge. She confronts Abe head-on and immediately begins looking for a scientific method for breaking the loop.
Once she finds a solution, Sarah reconnects with Nyles. He immediately apologizes, reveals he know about her mistake with Abe and confesses his love for her.
He’s apprehensive about leaving the time loop. While reaffirming his love for her, he stands firm that he doesn’t want to break the loop by blowing up the cave. She is willing to risk dying for the opportunity to break the loop.
Roundabout: The look of utter shock at Nyles confession of love by Milioti is tremendous. Not only with Nyles loving the only other person in the loop, but that he loves her in spite of what Sarah did with Abe.
Sarah goes through the rest of November 9 one more time. She handles each situation like the next day with be November 10 by making a wonderful toast and making plans with various people for the next day.
The film ends with Nyles catching up to Sarah and each confirming their love for the other before blowing up the cave.
Final Thoughts on Palm Springs
Palm Springs is a wonderful twist on a well-worn genre. The performances by Samberg and Milioti are award-worthy. In a tight 90 minutes, they are able to create fully realized characters that you could recognize in any situation.
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The Review
Palm Springs
PROS
- Andy Samberg and Cristin Milioti form a romantic comedy pairing that stands alongside Meg Ryan-Tom Hanks, Adam Sandler-Drew Barrymore.
- By adding another person to the time loop, Andy Siara's screenplay presents a wholly unique take on the genre.
- Fantastic supporting cast led by J.K. Simmons makes this a destination wedding worth revisiting over and over again.
CONS
- An unnecessary lie by Nyles casts an unnecessary shade over the film. While Samberg rises to the occasion by the end of film, the process is more difficult than it needed to be.
