Movie Review — Palm Springs
Film: Palm Springs. Year: 2020. Genre: Comedy/Romance. Director: Max Barbakow
Going in an infinite time loop of the same day, how – while day by day each day remains the same, something changes in the protagonists when a variable element gets added.
Its a fun movie of time loop, unlike meet cute in which you will see the folly of the protagonist. These movies typically live through the the emotions of feeling stuckness and stagnant and a cry for help because they have tried hundreds and thousands of ways to resolve the situation or make them better with no end in sight. That it changes towards the end generally is what makes me happy though.
A quick overview on what the movie is about [ Spoilers Alert! ] :
The male protagonist (Nyles) is stuck in a time loop of the wedding day of his girlfriend’s sister’s wedding day in Palm Springs. He and his other acquaintance get high and are somehow stuck in the loop. Both in their own ways have accepted the inevitable fact that they will continue to remain in his reality forever and have made their peace eventually. People they interact with change, some situations change, but effectively they have resigned to the fact that this is what their reality is — good or bad. They have tried a hundred different ways to kill themselves but they are unable to get out of the reality of living in the same day.
A turnaround happens when the female protagonist (Sarah ) gets stuck in this time loop and is desperate to get out of this loop also because each morning she is forced to look at one of not so great moments in life. And she is living it day after day after day.
The story goes, as both Nyles and Sarah of course fall in love, fight but suddenly one fine day Sarah finds a way to get of the time loop. Nyles wants to stay in this reality as this is what is familar and safe. Whether they live, die or come out 20 years later older or a few days later is something they do not know. The familiar feels safe.
Sarah shares with Nyles there is a way to escape the situation — They jump through the cave where they entered the time loop and have just 3.2 seconds to leave the situation by blasting themselves.
Now, as I shared, I love a good happy ending in a movie, they of course end up safe and are present just 1 day later in Palm Springs but Sarah had to be ready to jump first without Nyles.
So all the fear, contemplation, worry was for nothing. They were safe and with each other.
Try the exercise below:
Take one unwanted situation in your life and replay it with few tweaks for the next 5–10 years of your life knowing whatever you try leads you to same place again. What would you do in this situation?
Love and Light,
Ritika ❤
