SPOILERS for both Groundhog Day and Palm Springs in this analysis.
Groundhog Day.
A classic, well-loved film starring the amazing Bill Murray. Number 34 on the American Film Institute’s list of Best Comedies of the Twentieth Century. And the film that established the time loop as a plot device in mainstream entertainment.
Iconic, right?
Still, like so many other beloved films of yesteryear, Groundhog Day is rather… problematic when viewed from a 2020 lens.
Phil, the main character only gets out of the time loop once he can get Rita, the female lead, to willingly sleep with him. He does this by learning about Rita, learning what she likes in a man, what she thinks a good man is like. But he gets infinite chances to make it work. It becomes like a video game: Try. Fail. Reset. Try again. Get a little farther before failing. Reset. Try again and again until you make it all the way through.
The problem with this is that it completely erases Rita’s agency. Once Phil makes it out of the time loop, he knows everything about Rita and has fallen in love with her, but Rita only knows Phil as an asshole hotshot news anchor who to a sudden, intense interest in her yesterday, and perfectly manipulated her in a way that swept her off her feet and into his bed. She starts out the film enamored with Phil, so maybe it makes sense for her to dismiss all the red flags that his behavior should raise, but we as the viewers still see them.
Now, don’t get me wrong: there is still a lot to love about Groundhog Day. Murray is so freaking good in it, and his journey of self-discovery, of learning that there is so much more to life than work, is exquisitely executed. I understand why it is held up as a great film. But it doesn’t even come close to doing the character of Rita any justice.
So, how does Palm Springs update the time loop story? How does it address these issues?
In Palm Springs, Nyles has gone through everything Phil went through in Groundhog Day… all before the beginning of the movie. He has been stuck in the time loop, reliving his girlfriend’s best friend’s wedding for a long time; months, or even years, if you were to string the repeated days together. Instead, we start the story on the day that Sarah, the alcoholic older sister of the bride (and person who Nyles has figured out how to ‘Rita’ into sleeping with him) follows Nyles into the magical time loop cave, despite his warnings against it.
Now, Sarah and Nyles are both stuck in the time loop together (along with Roy, the groom’s uncle, who is the first person Nyles showed the cave to, and who now hunts down Nyles every few days to torture and kill him for getting him stuck in this time loop).
As Nyles and Sarah relive the same day over and over together, they grow close. But there is a looming question hanging over their heads: Are they only growing close because they’re all they have? Or are they growing close because they are coming to love and understand each other?
Secrets come to light, our main characters have a fight, and spend some time apart. Sarah uses this time to become an expert in quantum physics and figures out a way out of the time loop. She doesn’t know if it will just finally allow them to go to the next day, toss them years into the future, or just kill them permanently, but it will get them out of the time loop.
Nyles balks at this. He has grown comfortable in the time loop. He is scared of having to live with consequences again. But if he doesn’t decide to go with Sarah now, then even if he decides to use her method of exiting the time loop later and it works to allow him to start moving through time again, the Sarah in his timeline won’t be the same Sarah who got stuck in the time loop with him.
Nyles must decide if he chooses the scary unknown to be with Sarah, or an eternity of no permanent consequences (and no growth, or change, or relationship) alone.
Both Sarah and Nyles are in a situation where they choose whether or not to be together after learning the worst things about each other. They both have growth. They both have agency. And when they choose each other at the end, they do so with open eyes (even as they realize that there are still things they need to learn about each other).
I greatly enjoy both Groundhog Day and Palm Springs. They both are comedy gold. And I am not disputing Groundhog Day‘s status as a classic.
But, in 2020, when we have a growing call for better representation of women in film, women with agency and depth, when we have more and more women pointing out that the romance plots in a lot of older films bear an uncomfortable resemblance to toxic relationships, it might be a better choice the skip the old, well-loved classic and try the new time loop comedy instead. (You can find it streaming on Hulu.)
What are your thoughts on Palm Springs?
What are your thoughts on Groundhog Day?
Are there any older films you used to love, but recent rewatches have made you cringe?
Let me know in the comments below!