Palm Springs

A man burns to death in a pool full of petrol. A woman deliberately steps in front of a truck. A man in a bin takes a close range arrow to the chest. A woman ruins her sister's life. These actions don't sound funny do they? Out of context they sound down right horrifying tbh but when they happen in Palm Springs they will make you hoot like an eejit. It´s a film you´re better off watching cold....which begs the question...why are you still reading this?

Think about a shitty day you had. Have you got it? Are you cringing yet? Remember the relief when you got into bed and it was all over? Nice wasn't it. Now imagine doing it over and over and over again? Would you just keep doing the same thing again, hoping for a different outcome? Or would you say fuck it and throw all caution to the wind? Just to see what you could salvage from the day? I know what one I'd go for.

It´s the 9th of November. Nyles (Adam Samberg) is in Palm Springs for a friend's wedding. Sarah (Cristin Milioti) is there too to be maid of honour for her sister. She´s totally unprepared, her speech is going to be a disaster and then Nyles saves the day with lines that just seem perfect...........too perfect. He´s smooth as hell and him and Sarah hit it off and head into the desert night for a bit of naughtiness. Then an arrow flies out of the air and everything goes pear shaped until Sarah wakes up. On the 9th of November again. Just what is going on?

Palm Springs is a joy. It's a film that knows it's audience is going to be film savvy, that we've seen Groundhog Day, Edge Of Tomorrow and that one really good episode of Supernatural, it knows it doesn't have to waste time on cod mythology, crappy scientific explanations or backstory and so it dumps us right into the middle of Nyles's journey. He seems off at first, miserable in a situation that should bring happiness, then all of a sudden he's a different man altogether when he sets his sights on Sarah, things don't make sense and just when your eyes are on the verge of rolling the film lets us know what's up and from then on it's just a joyous freefall of carnage & hilarity brought together beautifully by a central pairing that just works.

Samberg, an actor with a tendency to be loud and annoying is excellent here, each day he relives stripping away another layer of armour repetition has created. Milioti nails the 'lost and clearly troubled by something' look and then has a whale of a time diving headfirst and with gusto into her new normal. Palm Springs is 90 minutes long but or once I'd have happily watched another 30 minutes of Nyles and Sarah's metaphysical adventures in other dimensions. It's just so much fun watching two people bonding right in front of your eyes, something that began in wary disbelief up to the point where both our heroes wake each day with a smile, knowing they'll get to be together again within moments.

I loved this film. It's easily going to slot into my top 10 of 2020. And we haven't even mentioned J.K. Simmons yet. Simmons is the icing on the cake here. But I'll leave ye to discover how he fits into the mix. Palm Springs is streaming on Hulu now. It rocks. Watch it.