As opposed to Groundhog Day, the characters here can’t learn or grow or be-a-better-person their way out of their predicament. It also sets up the biggest existential quandary of the picture. I can hear you asking, “Raw nihilism? In a romcom?” Yes, in fact, it’s the movie’s acknowledgement that we’re all participating in a giant cosmic joke that makes the inevitable arc of the characters that much sweeter. What sets Palm Springs apart is that this time, two characters – really three, but I’ll get there – go through the experience together, and it leans into the raw nihilism with which Groundhog Day only briefly flirted. Palm Springs is a delightful reworking of the central conceit of the Bill Murray/ Andie MacDowell movie Groundhog Day, in which Murray’s character is doomed to relive the exact same day over and over and over until fate/karma/the universe decides he has grown enough as a human being to be let out of his hellish purgatory. Luckily – both for me and the film’s marketing push (the trailer also spills the big secret) – this charming and wacky movie has plenty more going for it.
Yes, I just spoiled the biggest plot surprise of Palm Springs, the new romcom starring Andy Samberg and Cristin Milioti.
“It’s one of those infinite time loop situations you might have heard about.”
