Notes

Palm Springs (Movie Review)
Director Max Barbakow (the screenwriter behind the Lonely Island’s California-kid absurdity in SNL sketches) and coproducer Andy Siara give their feature directorial debut a solid shake with Palm Springs. This funny and surprisingly poignant film follows a wisecracking downer who is stuck in a time loop during the weekend of his sister’s wedding. Unlike Groundhog Day, though, his problem isn’t that he wakes up again and again in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, but in a Palm Springs hotel with his dubiously depressed girlfriend Sarah and her dimwitted maid of honor Misty. Whether they die, sleep, or do something even more heinous than accidentally slitting their wrists and dropping their bodies into the desert, it won’t matter because whatever they do will just reset the clock back to the beginning of this cursed Saturday.

As it turns out, Nyles has been stuck in this time warp for years, maybe decades, and he’s determined to get out of it. The only way to do so is to change one thing each time he goes through the loop. So far, he’s embarassed himself at a cocktail party, insulted the bride, slept with his ex-wife, and murdered his best friend. He’s been able to tweak the date, but he still ends up in the same bed each morning, doomed to relive this day indefinitely.


Eventually, he encounters his brother in law and shrewd business partner Roy (J. K. Simmons) and realizes that he needs to change his ways before the next loop starts or he’ll be trapped in this prison for eons. But he’s a nihilist and a cynic, so that won’t be easy. It helps that Sarah is a similarly disillusioned and skeptical skeptic with a soft-shelled carapace of sarcasm.

Both of them have some chemistry and their story is interesting, but what elevates it to a different level is the moral vision it presents. It’s about the worth of trying to maintain some semblance of dignity, even when it feels like nothing in this universe really matters.

Despite some issues with its pace, Palm Springs is a fun and entertaining movie. kseries tv has a few genuinely laugh-out-loud moments and is anchored by a great performance from Andy Samberg. It’s also worth a look for its depiction of family life and the way it examines the impact of mental illness on those around us. If you’re a fan of SNL and the first season of Russian Doll, then you should definitely check out this comedy about love and time travel. It’s an original and entertaining film that you won’t want to miss. You can see it on Amazon Prime Video.

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