History Film / PalmSprings

* EarthquakesCauseFissures: The earthquake in the opening scene causes the ground to crack open and reveal lava underneath.

* HereWeGoAgain: [[spoiler: The movie ends with Nyles and Sarah getting caught by the family who actually live in Nyles' "safe house", showing us that even though they're back in the real world these two good-natured delinquents aren't going to live a life that's anything close to ordinary.]]

* TheFriendNobodyLikes: We don't get to see much of pre-time loop Nyles, but it's clear he's only at the wedding because his girlfriend is a bridesmaid, to the point where he's consistently referred to as "Misty's boyfriend". By the time we see him, well entrenched in the time loop, he isn't taking anything seriously anymore, wears swimming trunks and a Hawaiian shirt to the wedding ceremony, and is often bluntly honest in his speech.

* SecondActBreakUp: [[spoiler:Sarah breaks up with Nyles halfway through the movie when he reveals to her that he lied about not having slept with her. They make up soon after]].

* BitterWeddingSpeech: Subverted. After his girlfriend finishes her disappointing wedding speech, Nyles grabs the mic and starts a speech of his own. We are to assume he is gonna dress down the bride and groom but surprisingly he delivers an emotional, uplifting speech. [[spoiler:It's later revealed that we would do this only to get into Sarah's panties.]]

* ClosedCircle: Played with. The rules of the time loop are more flexible than the ones in ''Film/GroundhogDay'' in that the time loop only resets when you fall asleep even if you go past midnight and well into the next day. Also, there are no obstacles keeping one there, so you can travel anywhere you like, for as long as you can stay awake. But it's unpleasant, exhausting, and ultimately futile, because you always end up back at the Palm Springs hotel eventually.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: There are many narrative breadcrumbs that hint at Sarah's WhamShot reveal. Doubles as RewatchBonus as some of the hints don't stand out as hints until you've learned about Sarah's personality and see how she acts which is common element of time loop stories.
** Following Sarah's awakening on her very first loop, she immediately looks upset [[spoiler: because she realizes whose room she's in]]. Then she bolts from the room when she hears the shower start. The scene cuts to the living room with a close up focus on a picture [[spoiler: of Abe and Tala]].

* MeaningfulEcho: Nyles is involved in a NoodleIncident that make him realize that "nothing is worse than slowly dying in the ICU" which he hated because the pain was real and remains in his memory. When Roy explains that his HeelRealization came from when the nurses in the hospital didn't want him to fall into a coma and kept him awake and in pain, Nyles repeats the line.

** A lot of Nyles's actions at the beginning, such as his boredom with easily-obtainable sex with Misty and his perfectly-executed moves on the dance floor, make more sense once you know about the time loop.

* AmbiguousEnding: It seems like Sarah's plan worked and she and Nyles are free from the timeloop. It's strongly implied that Sarah gave Roy enough information that he could also escape if he chooses. However, the time loop cave still exists and there are [[spoiler:dinosaurs]] seen in the background just before the credits roll making it unclear as to what timeline/reality Sarah and Nyles escaped into.

%%* BronsonCanyonAndCaves: The cave that is central to the time loops.

* DrivenToSuicide: It doesn't take long for Sarah to turn to this, only to realize that she will still continue waking up regardless. Nyles has tried it many, many times in the past without success and actively encourages her to skip this phase.

* WickedStepmother: At the very least, Sarah and her stepmother clearly don't get along. Sarah angrily corrects Nyles when he assumes Pia is her mother, and in time loops where Sarah skips the wedding, Pia is quick to assume that Sarah left because Tala's wedding [[ItsAllAboutMe wouldn't be about her]].

** Upon repeated viewing, it becomes obvious that Nyles telling Sarah he never slept with her in any of the previous loops is BlatantLies as you can see how many of his interactions with her are rehearsed and choreographed, right down to reacting on cue to {{Funny Background Event}}s such as working "leg up" into his conversation as Misty and Trevor carry on behind him.

* TheAntichrist: Played for laughs. Nyles briefly {{troll}}s Sarah that this is his true identity when he appears to summon the earthquake to open up the cave. It turns out that he simply knows what time the earthquake hits each day and milks it for full dramatic effect.

** Spuds' pet goat, which appears in the very first shot of the movie, plays a major role in the ending.

* DarkAndTroubledPast: In one loop, Nyles hooks up with Daisy the bartender and she revealed that she once hit a man in the very car they're having sex in and she doesn't think he ever walked again.

* TheStinger: Used after the credits roll to show [[spoiler: that Roy did get the message that Sarah left for him and confirms that both Sarah & Nyles got out of the loop.]]

* TimeLoopFatigue: Nyles has been in the loop long enough to be quite jaded at the start of the film. He tries to deal with it by drinking heavily and making little effort to do anything.

* TheAlcoholic: Nyles and Sarah. Nyles is shown dealing with continued existence by copious amounts of alcohol. Sarah admits that she's someone who "fucks around and drinks too much". We also get hints that Roy had these tendencies that he gave up once he got married (hence seeing a kindred spirit in Nyles on the night they meet).

* AmbiguouslyBi: Downplayed. His preference seems to be women given the larger number of women he slept with (at one point he slips and confesses he's bedded Sarah over a thousand times), but Nyles casually tells Sarah that he had sex with Jerry during one of his loops. However, it seems to be more experimentation than genuine attraction.
-->'''Jerry:''' I'm really glad I tried it, he's a sweet guy.

* TheAntiNihilist: Despite his fully nihilist worldview, Nyles shows shades of this. "The pain is real" seems to be his core philosophy. He generally tries to avoid causing pain, and even bring joy to others (as when he gives a kid a hundred dollars and tells him to "spend it all today"). Even though he knows everything will reset, minimizing the unhappiness in the moment is important to him.

* BrilliantButLazy: Although we don't find out too much about Sarah's pre-loop life, she seems to have been pretty directionless and not very accomplished. However, when motivated, she manages to [[spoiler:learn enough quantum physics to escape the time loop]], showing that she is very intelligent.

* TheHedonist: Once Nyles settles into the time-loop, his goal is to simply enjoy himself with food, drink, and sex while expending as little effort as possible.

* ManChild: Andy Samberg is typecast to some degree as one of these. While he does experience some despair from the time loop, he adapts pretty well, and ultimately becomes quite comfortable living in what is essentially an eternal, consequence-free, vacation. Life in the time loop is boring and pointless, but also safe, comfortable, predictable, and undemanding.
* ManipulativeBastard: Downplayed. While Nyles does use the looping to learn a lot about everyone at the wedding, and does take advantage of that knowledge to seduce various people, he never really manipulates anyone there for his advantage and has a strict policy against inducing trauma on people because of the painful memories it leaves with him.

* MeaningfulName: Try and convince us that "Nyles" isn't a fun expression of the nihilism his character embodies.
* MissingMom: Sarah's mother died when she was young.

* ReallyGetsAround: Nyles' flashbacks show that he took advantage of the loop to have sex with all sorts of people and try new things. When talking to Sarah who is now in the loop with him, he claims he grew weary of the work it takes to seduce someone and decided to coast through each day with minimal effort. [[spoiler:However, when he reveals that he lied about never sleeping with Sarah and actually bedded her a thousand times, it casts doubt on how truthful he was about the rest of his claims.]]

* StrawNihilist: Nyles. Justified because he's been trapped in the loop for an extremely long period of time, he eventually decides that the only thing that matters is avoiding temporary pain, because while his existence is meaningless due to the loops, the physical pain he can suffer during them isn't, nor is the emotional trauma because his memory is left intact.

* AmbiguouslyBi: Downplayed. His preference seems to be women given the larger number of women he slept with (at one point he slips and confesses he's bedded Sarah over a thousand times) but Nyles casually tells Sarah that he had sex with Jerry during one of his loops. However, it seems to be more experimentation than genuine attraction.

--->'''Nana [to Nyles]:''' Dear, I've been to more weddings in my life than you can imagine...
--->'''Nana [to Sarah]:''' Well, I suppose now that you'll be going soon. Good Luck.

* BrilliantButLazy: Though we don't find out too much about Sarah's pre-loop life, she seems to have been pretty directionless and not very accomplished. Yet when motivated, she manages to [[spoiler: learn enough quantum physics to escape the time loop,]] showing that she is very intelligent.
* BronsonCanyonAndCaves: The cave that is central to the time loops.

* ComedicSociopathy: As is traditional for a GroundhogDayLoop plot there's a fair amount of this, including Nyles and Sarah hilariously staging a terrorist attack at the wedding and apparently greatly enjoying how genuinely freaked out the guests are despite the ridiculousness of it all. That said, Nyles is pretty insistent on never actually hurting anyone during the loops -- and alludes darkly to having learned from experience that even if it has no permanent consequences the memory of doing so is reason enough to avoid it.

* DarkAndTroubledPast: In one loop, Nyles hooks up with Daisy the bartender and she reveals that she once hit a man in the very car they're having sex in and she doesn't think he ever walked again.

Originally premiered at the 2020 [[UsefulNotes/{{Sundance}} Sundance Film Festival]], it was jointly purchased by Creator/{{Neon}} and Creator/{{Hulu}} in a record-breaking deal [[note]]The purchase price was set at ''one cent more'' than the current record holder to intentionally generate headlines without offering significantly more money[[/note]]. It received a release in drive-in theaters in the US on July 10th, 2020, after the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic forced the cancellation of a planned wide theatrical release. It was also released digitally on Hulu on the same date.

* JerkToNiceGuyPlot: Although personal growth isn't the way to escape the loop, Sarah, Nyles and Roy end up better people because it's the only way they can live with themselves.

* EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs: One night in the desert, Sarah and Nyles ingest mushrooms and see a herd of long-necked dinosaurs. It's unclear if they are real because of the time loop, or just hallucinations. [[spoiler:However, they appear again in the distance just before the credits roll indicating they were not hallucinations.]]

* SpiritualSuccessor: To ''Film/GroundhogDay''. While many films have adapted the concept, in terms of pure comedy and storytelling, as well as an update to the premise by having additional characters in the loop, this makes for a fresh presentation of a GroundHogDayLoop story.

Originally premiered at the 2020 [[Sandbox/{{Sundance}} Sundance Film Festival]], it was jointly purchased by Creator/{{Neon}} and Creator/{{Hulu}} in a record-breaking deal [[note]]The purchase price was set at ''one cent more'' than the current record holder to intentionally generate headlines without offering significantly more money[[/note]]. It received a release in drive-in theaters in the US on July 10th, 2020, after the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic forced the cancellation of a planned wide theatrical release. It was also released digitally on Hulu on the same date.

* WhamLine: [[spoiler: "We f***ed a thousand times."]]

* {{Determinator}}: Sarah. [[spoiler: Sarah. She becomes so determined to escape the time loop that she starts studying quantum physics, and ends up achieving graduate-level knowledge in the subject, entirely through books and online physics courses.]]