For most of us, recent months have brought with it a certain repetition. In a lot of cases, life has been stalled to such an extent that days blend together, where productivity has ceased in order to fight a global pandemic. It’s an agitation that could make many believe that they’re personally going through a months-long Groundhog Day or the feeling of living the same day over and over. If you can’t progress, then are you really living? These existential questions have been asked continually since the Bill Murray comedy Groundhog Day (1993), and what’s odd is that it has become one of those stories that have been endlessly lampooned in the process.
Of course, it helps that it was one of the most original concepts of the late 20th century. Who doesn’t have this feeling of hopelessness every now and then? Not since It’s a Wonderful Life (1947) has a movie felt evergreen no matter how you shift its components to contemporary settings.
In recent times, Andy Samberg and Cristin Milioti have given us their take with Palm Springs (2020): a Sundance comedy that became the biggest seller in the festival’s history… by 69 cents. It feels like a joke that should reflect its cheapness, relying on juvenile antics. However, it’s one of the most refreshing and exciting films of 2020. Now available on Hulu, it’s a Groundhog Day-like movie that takes its construction and finds ways to enliven it with a vital new life. All it took was visiting a friend’s wedding in Palm Springs.
Meet Nyles. Played by Samberg, he begins the story getting ready for his friend’s wedding. Everything seems to be normal as he navigates the hotel room, waiting for his girlfriend to get ready. As she breaks out into a hissy fit over a trivial detail, Nyles ignores her. It’s the first sign that he’s disconnected from the world around him, eventually leading to a toast at the wedding reception where he suggests that nothing matters. He comes across Sarah (Milioti), who becomes confused by his high spirits and decides to follow him into the desert.
After being chased by a masked assassin (J.K. Simmons), Nyles winds up in a cavern. As Sarah follows, she discovers the secrets that hide inside. Much like Nyles, she is stuck on this day forever. As she tracks down Nyles, they discover that they’re the only ones who are experiencing this. Despite being numb to a lot of this, Nyles is eager for Sarah to not hurt others because “pain is still real.” While she forms an attraction towards Nyles, she gives more into her homicidal desires, going crazy as she has to deal with this day over and over, seeing people that she doesn’t personally care about.
Yes, it is a love story. At some point Nyles and Sarah grow affectionate towards each other, finding themselves as soul mates during these troubled times. During one night in the desert, they claim to see dinosaurs roaming the distance. They are unsure if it is real, but it makes them feel more special. As they give in to their intimate embrace, they discover small things starting to change. They could go on seeing each other and it would still, reasonably, be considered a literal one night stand.
Because of their growing frustration, Nyles and Sarah form a giant disregard for the normalcy of their lives. It’s clear that he has lived this situation many times, as he’s quick to talk in unison with his girlfriend about her shock and surprise. Similarly, Sarah has no trouble running into his room without warning. They play with knowing affairs, becoming amused by innocent bystanders walking into a make-out session. Though even that begins to wear thin after a while.
Palm Springs is a movie that’s at its best when reveling in the tropes of its Groundhog Day premise. Even as it finds itself floating in a pool, its aimlessness (reminiscent of The Graduate (1967)) speaks to their place in the world. Samberg is quick to drink because his liver will be renewed by morning. The endless jokes and gags are part of the film’s charm, managing to clock in under 90 minutes. Even the fact that Milioti gets a memorable scene where she freaks out and runs over a police officer shows how this absurd story gets away with dark humor as a form of character growth. It’s drawn from desperation to feel anything, let alone to have consequences feel like they matter.
In a lot of ways, Happy Death Day 2U (2019) isn’t all that similar to Palm Springs in more than repetition. With that said, it has a few distinct achievements in this realm (some pun intended). For starters, it’s the first Groundhog Day-like film to garner a sequel (and a proposed trilogy on the way). It’s also one of the few to try and explain what causes these time loops, which got Tree (Jessica Rothe) stuck in this madness previously in Happy Death Day (2017). This horror movie franchise leans more heavily into the comedy and sci-fi this time around, though don’t expect things to ignore its slasher roots.
Both Happy Death Day 2U and Palm Springs share this secretly high concept approach to the subject that makes them risky gambles. If they don’t make sense, there’s a good chance that they would fail. Even if purists may take issue with the logistics, there’s a good chance that they will find them highly entertaining, reflecting an ability to enjoy the absurdity of these situations. They share a tendency of nihilism at points, where characters comically commit suicide to escape the frustrating Rube Goldberg Machine that their day has become.
In both cases, their proverbial Groundhog Days are shared by more than one party. Whereas Happy Death Day was from the perspective of Tree, she is now joined by a group of friends who are once again trying to track down a murderer, dressed in the iconic baby mask from the first film. Things go awry and they have to constantly fight obstacles, but it’s a murder mystery at its finest. It knows how to lay out the clues and slowly move the story closer to its goal, even as we get a montage that includes Tree skydiving from a plane naked. It doesn’t make sense, but this is a wacky horror movie geared at teens. It works in that perverse way.
You could theoretically rope in Happy Death Day into this mix and have the story still flow coherently. In that regard, the overlap of Nyles and Tree would make more sense, of being alone in this paradoxical nightmare. Happy Death Day 2U explains the moment when Tree is no longer alone, able to work with others to fix the problems. It’s also revealed that Samar (Suraj Sharma) is working on a machine that controls time, meaning that they have ways to cheat the system. It’s an evolution of the first story and one that enhances the first in meaningful ways even as it shifts genre more from direct slasher fare to time travel conceptualization.
Similarly, Palm Springs introduces the hurdle that they need to overcome throughout their story. The cavern that places Sarah in the predicament holds secrets to whatever will free them of this time loop. The big difference is that where Samar’s machine can be controlled, the cavern is a piece of metaphysical nature that has to be worked around. Its secrets must be unlocked, and it has to be solved as the days become more insufferable and the desire to escape Palm Springs feels more hopeless. They even drive to Texas as some form of escape, only finding it to be a brief respite from this nightmare.
While Happy Death Day 2U has some emotional stakes, they aren’t as central to the story as Palm Springs. With Palm Springs, it becomes clear that it’s as much about the feeling of losing someone you have grown to love as it is escaping a nightmare. What will happen when Nyles and Sarah are allowed to break free of this trap? It’s an uncertainty that Nyles can’t deal with. As the cuts from a wasted day fall into the next of waking up miserable in bed, it’s clear that some comforts need to be tested if they plan to get anywhere.
There is one supporting character who gets to break free of this before Nyles and Sarah. Roy (Simmons) is someone whom Nyles keeps seeing around, taking on antagonistic forms in order to amuse himself. When it finally becomes clear that he’s broken free, Nyles visits him at his home with kids. He gets a story about how one night of accidents leads to his happy new life as a father. He is happy to have this moment and that it should be cherished. It’s the emotional heart of the story, and evidence that there are ways to break free of this trap. It isn’t only one of practical means, but emotional ones as well. Roy may hate Nyles, but there’s still this moment of learning that is endearing and serves as the crux of the story’s second half.
Comparatively, Happy Death Day 2U is more about the wild antics, the need to figure out who the new murderer is. In that time they are also coming into contact with a government agency that wants to use Samar’s technology. It’s espionage tropes that seep in and reflect where the series may end up, provided it’s allowed to go even wilder and crazier. For now, it’s just a campus murder story and one that begins to explore Tree’s personal trauma. She is worn out by having to live these days over and over. It’s a very comedic performance, but one that allows her to be vulnerable and self-reflective as well, even thinking about how she has treated those around her.
The biggest selling point of both is that they come with uncertainty even in the final 15 minutes that could suggest that this story will be bittersweet. In both respects, it’s not true. However, Palm Springs has a secretly melancholic heart that makes you believe that nihilism will get the most of them. The hopelessness deflates the comedy in favor of desperation of character, where their true needs are understood. Sarah’s dive into quantum physics reveals the answers she needs to escape. After testing it on a goat, she believes that she’s capable of getting through. Nyles needs to be coaxed, eventually believing that if they die, they die together.
If there is any major difference from how things end, it’s that Palm Springs feels more conclusive. They’re still lofting about in Palm Springs, but it’s more at their own will than anything forced upon them. They have come to accept the value of life in meaningful ways, accepting each other as soul mates.
Meanwhile, Happy Death Day 2U ends up feeling like the centerpiece of a bigger story. While it concludes the murder mystery, the time-traveling aspect is built upon. There’s a post-credits sequence where Tree and the crew are introduced to the government agency that wants to use their technology for future events. It’s implied that a sequel of even crazier proportions is on the way. Will Tree be stuck in yet another time loop? Something tells us that it’s more than likely.
In a time where every day feels exactly the same, it’s sometimes a relief to know that cinema feels the same way. While both of these films tackle the issue straight on, their ability to do it with friends shows optimism that is needed right now. Whether it’s through romantic comedies or slasher films, the ability to not feel alone is an endearing and underrated tool to have at times like these. To solve something together is a feeling that is necessary in 2020, and these films capture it perfectly, especially as forms of escapism within genre fare. Both are endlessly entertaining, thought-provoking, and feature top-notch performances. Most of all, they remind us how absurd life can be, especially when it feels like nothing matters. At the end of the day, we sometimes need that innocent reminder that it actually does.
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