Andy Samberg Is Immortal In This Sci-Fi Comedy That Will Shock You
If you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to relive the same day over and over, then go watch Groundhog Day. If, like us, you’ve seen Groundhog Day enough times that watching it again feels like reliving you’re own time loop, then do yourself a favor and stream the Andy Samberg comedy Palm Springs on Hulu. While “main character stuck reliving the same day until they learn a lesson,” is a very niche genre, there are still enough movies that use that plot device to call Palm Springs one of the better ones.
The movie follows Nyles, a guest at a destination wedding who somehow gets caught repeating the day of the wedding over and over again. What sets Palm Springs apart from other time loop movies like Groundhog Day and Happy Death Day is that Andy Samberg’s Nyles isn’t the only one caught in the time loop. Cristin Millioti’s Sarah and Roy, played by Whiplash star J.K. Simmons, are both cursed to relive the same day as Nyles, seemingly forever.
While the filmmakers also admit that any romantic comedy featuring a time loop would objectively have to use Groundhog Day as a jumping-off point, they took great pains to distance themselves from the Bill Murray classic, lest Palm Springs come off as just a cheap knockoff.
Both of Nyles’ “companions” react to their fate differently. Cristin Milliot’s character becomes Andy Samberg’s willing partner as they take advantage of the situation to have a series of reckless adventures—consequence-free. J.K. Simmons’ Roy, however, blames Nyles for his predicament and proceeds to murder Nyles in increasingly sadistic ways whenever he gets the chance.
Palm Springs director Max Barbakow and screenwriter Andy Siara dreamed up the idea for the film when they were both students at the American Film Institute. The duo imagined their movie as “an absurdist comedic mumblecore take on Leaving Las Vegas,” with “an equal eye on Jungian philosophical ideas and the pragmatic importance of writing a small-budget film that would be easy to produce.”
While the filmmakers also admit that any romantic comedy featuring a time loop would objectively have to use Groundhog Day as a jumping-off point, they took great pains to distance themselves from the Bill Murray classic, lest Palm Springs come off as just a cheap knockoff.
The film was released on July 10, 2020, on Hulu and quickly set another record, this one for being watched more times in its opening weekend than any other movie in the streamer’s history.
Barbakow and Siara went about this by starting the movie with Andy Samberg’s Nyles already firmly entrenched in his repeating time prison and using Millioti’s Sarah as an audience surrogate experiencing the phenomena for the first time. Funding for the indie film was secured only after actor Andy Samberg committed to the role of Nyles. Once Samberg was involved, Simmons and Millioti also signed on.
The film was shot on location in California but not in the actual Palm Springs as it was deemed too pricey by the crew. Instead, the film was shot around Los Angeles, including a few shots of the world-famous Cabazon Dinosaurs featured in Pee-wee’s Big Adventure (1985) and 1989’s feature-length Nintendo commercial The Wizard.
The Andy Samberg sci-fi comedy premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 26, 2020, and was subsequently purchased by Neon and Hulu for a record-breaking $17,500,000.69—$0.69 more than the previous highest Sundance purchase.
The film was released on July 10, 2020, on Hulu and quickly set another record, this one for being watched more times in its opening weekend than any other movie in the streamer’s history. The movie wasn’t just a hit with Hulu viewers either. Palm Springs earned a 94 percent critic score on Rotten Tomatoes, implying that the majority of critics who saw the film loved it.
For Andy Samberg, Palm Springs represents just another high-concept quirky comedy like 2007’s cult hit Hot Rod and the criminally overlooked 2016 gem Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping, a delightfully absurd take on pop stardom that deserves to be remembered as Gen Z’s This is Spinal Tap.
Andy Samberg Now
The former SNL cast member has mostly been doing voiceover work as of late, lending his pipes to the role of Dale in Disney+’s Chip n’ Dale: Rescue Rangers and, more recently, as the title character of the 2023 animated series Digman! Between that and the fact that Samberg is reaching the age where comedic actors traditionally try their hand at “serious” roles, Palm Springs might be Andy’s last great, live-action comedy…for a while at least.
Of course, if Palm Springs were to be Andy Samberg’s swansong as a comedic leading man, it’s not a bad movie to go out on. You can stream Palm Springs right now on Hulu.
