Premise: Two teens are stuck in a Groundhog Day situation and make a map of their favorite moments that day to fill their time.
I'm not sure how many Groundhog Day movies I'd need to see before I got tired of the idea, but I think the number would be pretty high. As long as the idea comes with some extra idea then I'm on board every time. It makes sense. It fits with my love of "seize the day" and "live your best life" movies. I mean, what is About Time if not a Groundhog Day in which the protagonist is in the driver's seat? The Map of Tiny Perfect Things is a play on the same idea, escalating the idea a little more. This time, it's two people trapped in the same day unbeknownst to each other until a chance meeting.
The movie begins with Mark (Kyle Allen) already deep into this temporal loop. He's come up with a daily routine of sorts that's a little bit anarchy and a little bit good Samaritan. At midnight, each night, he's transported back to the same morning when he's woken up by his mom leaving for work*. He's contented himself on reliving this same day in his small town over and over again. He's found enough to keep him interested still and he hasn't turned to full nihilism yet. Then, one day, his routine is disrupted by a girl, Margaret (Kathryn Newton) who he's never seen before, which means she's caught in a loop too. They become friends, although Margaret is closed off about a lot of things and isn't as thrilled to be caught in this loop. Still, they find new meaning by trying to catalog all the cool things they've observed in their town during all these iterations and eventually look for a way to get out of the loop.
*It's a kick in the balls that it's midnight and doesn't wait for him to go to sleep to reset. He could have some fun in those A.M. hours and milk more time with some caffeine.
I'll go ahead and say that the way they get out of the loop is some lame YA bullshit, but its heart is in the right place. Before that, the movie checks off all the stuff I want from this kind of movie. It doesn't focus too much on butterfly effect inconsistencies throughout the day (i.e., whether or not Mark steals a bulldozer earlier in the day would surely affect some other events that happen in the small town later). It doesn't try too hard to explain the reason for the time loop or get too bogged down in the more depressing aspects. Like, Mark never once commits suicide to end a day early. Most importantly, Newton and Allen are really sweet together. I appreciate the role reversal where Newton is the disillusioned one and Allen is the manic pixie dream boy. I'd certainly prefer the version of the movie that focuses more on Newton, which the movie also realizes in a roundabout way.
I enjoyed this movie a lot while being fully aware of its flaws. It's not the best Groundhog Day movie out there, but it's not the one that will destroy the genre either. There are even some keenly observed points about what a time loop really means for the other people in the loop. It's better to think of it as a movie about growing up anyway. When the movie says Mark can't keep reliving this day forever, it might as well say "you have to grow up eventually".
Side Thought: Is Kathryn Newton a name yet or at least a face? I've accidentally seen her in a lot of shows and movies since 2011 (i.e., she's in things I see for other reasons then she appears). Starting in 2017, she's shown up in so many things. At this point, she's a draw for me on her own, and I can't figure out if that's a result of my weird corner of TV/movie choices or if she's actually becoming a big deal.
Random Thought: What happened with the pool girl Mark was hitting on early in the movie? I get the sense that was supposed to be the equivalent of the Margot Robbie character in About Time, but I didn't realize how literally the movie was going to drop her the second that Kathryn Newton arrived.
Verdict: Weakly Recommend
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