There are so many variations on the basic setup of the time loop movie that the subgenre has expanded almost everywhere from action and romance to comedy and thriller via sci-fi and even horror, but Palm Springs stands tall above them all.
If you were to ask 100 people to name the best example in the medium’s history, then there’s a distinct possibility that the classic Groundhog Day will emerge as the front-runner, even if we shouldn’t overlook such gems as Edge of Tomorrow, Boss Level, Source Code, or The Endless.
However, director Max Barbakow’s instant classic beat out all of the competition to reign supreme as the best-reviewed cinematic time loop tale ever told, if only by a hair. Based on Rotten Tomatoes scores, Palm Springs‘ respective approval ratings of 94 and 89 percent puts ahead of Groundhog Day but only just, with the fittingly timeless Bill Murray favorite lingering just a fraction behind with 94 and 88 percent on the aggregation site.
They’re both phenomenal in their own right, and while Groundhog Day can always be relied upon to re-enter the public consciousness on an annual basis, Palm Springs is proving to be a favorite all-year round. Per FlixPatrol, Andy Samberg’s quest to escape from his temporal prison has emerged as one of the top-viewed titles on ViaPlay over the weekend having migrated over from its home platform of Hulu, but we’ll be very interested to see if it can hold onto its reputation as the cream of the crop as time goes on.