Review: Palm Springs, the new Hulu

The movie Palm Springs, produced by the streaming platform, arrived on Hulu some time ago, which is gaining more and more ground among the competition of production companies that also have a catalog of originals. Here are our impressions about it.

What is Palm Springs about?

Palm Springs is a romantic comedy with a touch of fantasy, magic or science fiction, however the reader wants to see it. It is about two strangers, played by Andy Samberg (Brooklyn 99) and Cristin Milotti (How I Met Your Mother), who meet one night at a wedding in Palm Springs. Before anything can happen between them, they get caught together in a time loop and are condemned to repeat the same day over and over again. No matter what they do or what happens, they will always wake up on the wedding day, when they met. So they get used to a meaningless life for a time, for nothing they do has any consequences.

As is to be expected, the two protagonists will go through moments of love and hate, but this movie is, above all, about feeling alone or accompanied, about friendship. In this refreshing twist that takes a fresh perspective on the time-looping and science fiction topic are the humorous and heartwarming performances of Andy Samberg and the fresh and uncomplicated Cristin Milloti. Also in the cast is JK Simmons, who plays a man also caught in the time loop which antagonizes Samberg. 

The film is directed by Max Barbakow in his directorial debut and was written by Andy Siara. It was also premiered this January at the Sundance Film Festival and premiered some time ago through the Hulu digital platform. It was very well received by the public and received great reviews. With this feature film, Hulu expands its catalog of originals and makes the subscription with which it intends to compete against other streaming giants such as Netflix more valuable.

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Our impressions

As we have already said, this is a romantic comedy. However, although it uses typical tropes of the rom-com genre, it also moves away from common places that we usually see in films of this genre and is updated without entering the field of political correctness . So it's funny and wrong while feeling young and refreshing. The interpretations of Andy Samberg and Cristin Milloti are fun and relaxed, they easily show their characters. The latter is a challenge in this film, because since the characters are not endowed with a story prior to that day or a dark or luminous past, it is up to the actors to give them a depth and complexity that makes them credible. Samberg and Milloti have done it.

On the other hand, this is a movie that asks complex questions about the meaning of things without getting heavy with it. Its time-looping plot and seemingly light tone make the characters' questions about existence and life seem natural and organic within the plot. It's a refreshing, smart, and fun comedy to watch on this Sunday.