The Andy Samberg-starring Palm Springs debuted on Hulu earlier this month and, while it may have looked like a traditional romantic comedy to some audiences, it also offered a heavy sci-fi concept reminiscent of Bill Murray’s Groundhog Day. The film focuses on Nyles (Samberg) and Sarah (Cristin Milioti) as they are trapped at a wedding in Palm Springs, reliving the same day over and over again for inexplicable reasons. With the pair seemingly being the only ones who experience the passage of time, this allows them to get to know one another, but one of the film’s writers revealed just how much longer Nyles was in the time loop before Sarah.
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WARNING: Spoilers below for Palm Springs
It’s clear from early on that Nyles has spent days, weeks, or even months trapped in this time loop, allowing him to attempt to free himself from the loop, with writer Andy Siara revealing that the character had spent an upwards of 40 years living the same day over and over.
“I don’t know if I’m supposed to say exactly, but Nyles was in there for over 40 years,” Siara revealed to Decider. “There are versions of the script where — mainly when Sarah comes in — I put titles in of how much time has passed. The main thing I hope got across was that a lot of time had passed. A lifetime of memories has passed, basically.”
Nyles’ outlook on the situation is to not care about much, including Sarah when she first arrives, because he’s spent 40 years trying to break the loop and finding no clues about how to achieve this. While years having passed in his situation certainly seemed feasible, it’s possible that were audiences to discover he had spent decades trapped in this Limbo, it would have pivoted to how depressing such a situation was and taken audiences out of the experience.
As far as what exactly transpired in the film’s finale, Siara was less likely to explain things.
“I feel like I know exactly what happens. Other people involved in the making of the movie feel something different happened,” the filmmaker confessed. “Therefore, I feel like it’s best to leave it up to the viewer to decide what that final scene actually is.”
Palm Springs is now streaming exclusively on Hulu.
Are you surprised that the character was in this situation for so long? Let us know in the comments below!
