Even if you’ve never seen it, you’ve never seen it, you should have at least heard of Groundhog Day, right? The one where Bill Murray lives the same day over and over again? While it may not be the first media to use the “infinite time loop” trope, Groundhog Day is arguably the most famous example of it, so much so that many people call that sort of plot a “Groundhog Day Loop.” Seeing as I had a slight obsession with any time travel trope, Groundhog Day was one of my favorite films growing up. I even loved other things that reminded me of it. (That’s right, I loved Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask before it was cool!) Given that it’s such an interesting plot, we can assume the “Groundhog Day Loop” may be an overused trope at this point. Yet Hulu proclaims otherwise, as it has just released Palm Springs, a new film that may perhaps offer a new take on a familiar idea.

Andy Samberg stars as Nyles, a man visiting Palm Springs to attend his girlfriend’s best friend’s wedding. While seemingly bored with the idea of attending this event, Nyles nevertheless proves to be carefree and charming throughout the evening…almost suspiciously so. He eventually catches the attention of Sarah, (Cristin Milioti) the sister of the bride, and obviously very uncomfortable about attending the wedding. Through a series of strange events she learns that Nyles has in fact, lived this same day countless times. Not only that, but she has also now unwittingly caught in the same endless time loop. I will try not to elaborate too much more about the plot other than that as one of the charms of this film is its many small twists and surprises it gives the audience. I consider myself lucky that I didn’t even see a trailer for this movie before I viewed it.

For starters, I will say that this is the exact type of thing I was wishing to see Andy Samberg in. While I’ve admired the dude for years as a sketch comedian, slapstick comedy actor, and musician, I could tell from his work in Brooklyn 99 that he has the ability to play a character with a bit of depth if he was offered the chance. I would have been glad for Palm Springs existence for the sheer fact it gave Samberg that opportunity. Playing a man who has obviously been deeply psychologically affected by living the same day countless times is definitely no easy task. I also want to give a shout out to Cristin Milioti. While many of us may best know her as “The Mother” from How I Met Your Mother, she has proven she can not just play “quirky” but also “darkly damaged, but still quirky”. I really hope to see her in more things in the near future.

So what makes Palm Springs worth watching if it obviously has a plot that has been done before. One thing I loved was the subtle meta nature of the film. Both of the main characters seem to be at least a little familiar with the idea of a “Groundhog Day Time Loop”, almost as if that movie exists within that universe as well. It was interesting to watch Sarah discover that what works in one iteration of the trope, may not work in her world. Another thing that gives this film a fresh take is it’s not just the main character having to live this same day, but others as well. We can see how it wears on different character’s psyches to be stuck in such an ordeal. Finally it may sound trite, but I really appreciated the love story of this film. While Groundhog Day and most other films also have a romantic plot, this one was unique and well developed. Dare I say that the Palm Springs romantic plotline was more important than the one in Groundhog Day.

In this time in which most of our fun events have been canceled, every day seems even more monotonous than it used to. Because many of us feel like we are stuck in our own personal infinite time loop, Palm Springs may hit a little too close to home. But because it was a fresh fun take on the familiar plot, perhaps we can take from this film to live every day to its fullest, even if it seems our situation is not going to change any time soon.