Overview
From Groundhog Day and Source Code to Edge of Tomorrow and the Happy Death Day films, many a movie has pondered what life would be like if you were forced to relive the same day or moment over and over. Of course, everyone who has made it through 2020 now knows that feeling, with each second of this year since mid-March blending into one big repetitive blob — so it's rather fitting that one of the year's most enjoyable movies is all about being stuck in a time loop.
That'd be Palm Springs, a romantic comedy that first premiered back at this year's Sundance Film Festival, then hit streaming in the US mid-year. It's now finally arriving Down Under, with viewers in Australia and New Zealand able to watch it via Amazon Prime Video from Friday, November 20. And, it's a delight.
Prime Video really should've released it earlier, on November 9, as that's the day that Andy Samberg' Nyles keeps repeating. He wakes up in the titular Californian desert resort city and attends a wedding with his girlfriend Misty (Meredith Hagner, Brightburn), which might seem like a pretty standard day to most people. But from his drunken interruptions at the reception to the plethora of revelations that arise — and his interactions with fellow guests Sarah (Cristin Milioti, Fargo) and Roy (JK Simmons) , too — nothing turns out as planned. And it only gets more chaotic when not only Nyles but also Sarah both discover that they can't escape this one particular day.
Palm Springs was also produced by Brooklyn Nine-Nine's Samberg, alongside his Lonely Island colleagues Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone.
And, narrative-wise, don't go thinking you know exactly where it's all going to go. As directed by feature first-time Max Barbakow and written by Lodge 49's Andy Siara, Palm Springs finds its own way to grapple with the time-loop genre's usual elements — the repetition that feels like being stuck in purgatory, and the existential malaise that comes with it — in a smart and funny rom-com that boasts particularly great performances from Samberg and Milioti.
Check out the trailer below:
Palm Springs will be available to stream Down under via Amazon Prime Video from Friday, November 20.