From IMDb: When carefree Nyles and reluctant maid of honor Sarah have a chance encounter at a Palm Springs wedding, things get complicated as they are unable to escape the venue, themselves, or each other.
It’s the unfortunate after effect of Coronavirus that every film released this year feels like the ‘perfect’ lockdown film. But my god, Palm Springs might truly be it.
Andy Samberg has shown his range over the last seven years on Brooklyn Nine Nine, but anyone who has seen Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping also knows he can carry a lot on his shoulders. Palm Springs will serve as a reminder to many, and hopefully as proof to others, that Samberg is not going anywhere. Cristin Milioti may be lesser known to some. Her big break was as the Mother on How I Met Your Mother, though I truly fell in love with her in the short lived romantic sitcom A-Z. After a critically loved performance in the Black Mirror episode USS Callister, she’s bided her time to make a splash, and boy does she do that in Palm Springs.
The pair are perfectly matched and both have the comedic chops and emotional depth to balance the rollercoaster of a film that could leave most in an existential turmoil. Whilst there are plenty of unbelievable antics (and I’m sure a lot of unbelievable quantum physics), at no point do you doubt their friendship, chemistry and eventual romance.
The ensemble cast is brilliant and help to carry the wackiness of the film. A surprise appearance by J.K.Simmons always enhances a film, Peter Gallagher is back up and at it after a devastating season on Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist and Meredith Hagner as Samberg’s girlfriend is irritatingly cute.
The best gags are the death scenes and they’ve borrowed a lot from the Happy Death Day series, which in turn owes a lot to Groundhog Day, so we know it’s in good company. But even the simple one liners, the cracking of a beer can during a speech or Samberg and Milioti running off giggling will put a smile on your face from beginning to end.
I adore a rom com, and it feels so rare these days that you get a real rom com. Whilst there’s a lot of other stuff happening in Palm Springs at its core, it’s a romance with the most elaborate meet cute yet. And I fell for it hard.
Palm Springs was released on Hulu in the US on July 10th and will be released in the UK later this year.
Ex film teacher and frequent couch potato. I try and see at least one new release a week, but I’ve somehow got to 30 without having seen The Godfather?
