How a low-budget comedy about a time loop shattered Sundance acquisition records
In short: When director Max Barbakow and screenwriter Andy Siara conceived Palm Springs, they aimed for an absurdist take on the time-loop genre. The result was a film that felt like a sequel to a movie that never existed, eventually setting streaming records and becoming a critical darling of 2020.
The concept for Palm Springs originated when Barbakow and Siara were students at the American Film Institute. They initially envisioned a dark, mumblecore-style story about a despondent man traveling to Palm Springs to end his life. As the project evolved, they incorporated science fiction elements, intentionally distancing the narrative from the 1993 classic Groundhog Day by starting the story with the protagonist, Nyles, already trapped in the loop.
Production was constrained by the limitations of a California tax credit, which forced the crew to film in the Los Angeles area rather than the titular desert city. Despite these logistical hurdles, the film was completed in just 21 days. The resulting movie, starring Andy Samberg, Cristin Milioti, and J. K. Simmons, premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival. Its acquisition by Neon and Hulu made headlines, reportedly selling for $17,500,000.69, which narrowly broke the previous record for a Sundance film sale.
Upon its July 10, 2020 release, the film achieved significant success on Hulu, setting an opening weekend record for the platform by netting more hours watched in its first three days than any other film in its history. Critics praised the film for its assured direction and performances, with Metacritic awarding it a weighted average score of 83 out of 100. By the end of the year, it was ranked 12th on Metacritic's aggregate of critics' top lists and was named Best Movie of the Year by IGN.
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- Summary by Intellect · source: Palm Springs (2020 film)
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