Palm Springs

Max Barbakow's new comedy, Palm Springs, is set during a never-ending wedding day for its main characters. The film finds itself in a genre of time-loop stories among others like Groundhog day where life is normal, rhythms are unchanged, and it starts off comedic but turns into something unbearable. Palm Springs fits in perfectly with today's climate as we are trapped. Palm Springs feels different than most movies because it is genuinely funny and charming and doesn't fall in the cliches of a romantic comedy. Instead of following its time-loop predecessors where the character gains a sense of self-improvement, Palm Springs is about how reality feels endless and as an adult, a lot of things will never change.


The film is set in Palm Springs where Nyles (Andy Samberg) and Sarah (Cristin Milioti) are guests at a wedding. Sarah appears to be haunted by her past while Nyles is the complete opposite and one night they meet and she follows him into a magical cave where she gets sucked into the time-loop. Nyles has become content in this new normal and is happy he has someone to spend time with now but Sarah is determined to find a way out. Nyles makes a point early on that the only way to live like this is to embrace that nothing matters then Sarah asks what is the point of living then to which Nyles responds that they have no choice but to live so they need to learn how to suffer existence.


Sarah and Nyles both have a darkness to them that doesn't way down the film. Sarah has depth and complexity that steers her from falling into Manic Pixie Dream Girl territory. Samberg brings a darker side to his comedy that works really well in this role. What works in this film is that even though they live in an endless cycle, the characters hold onto some type of decency. There is a clear moral vision they still have.


Disguised as a fun rom-com, Palm Springs, is a story haunted by the idea that inside we are all tempted to live in a world where nothing matters. In this world, we have no responsibilities, but that doesn't mean things will be better because we are facing what we are hiding from- ourselves.