Palm Springs – WISE Score & Parent Review | Screenwise

Palm Springs

Name: Screenwise
Author: Screenwise

movie2020

58%

WISE Score

Avg. Tomatometer

Groundhog Day meets rom-com with existential dread, R-rated humor, and surprisingly sweet philosophy about making life matter.

7.4/10

94%

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Palm Springs

movie

R, 2020

58%

WISE Score

Avg. Tomatometer

Groundhog Day meets rom-com with existential dread, R-rated humor, and surprisingly sweet philosophy about making life matter.

7.4

94%

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7.4/10

94%

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Screenwise Verdict

Palm Springs is genuinely one of the better rom-coms of recent years, with smart writing and surprising emotional depth. It takes the time-loop concept and uses it to explore what happens when nothing matters versus choosing to make things matter.

BUT—and this is crucial—it's an R-rated adult film through and through. The sexual content, language, substance use, and suicide imagery (even played for dark laughs) make it completely inappropriate for anyone under 18. This isn't a "mature teen" situation; it's adults-only.

For grown-ups, especially those who enjoyed Groundhog Day or Russian Doll, it's a smart, funny, surprisingly moving exploration of meaning and connection. For parents looking for family content? Keep scrolling. This one's for date night after the kids are asleep.

Age Fit

This is strictly for adults 18+. Despite being a rom-com with a fun premise, the R-rated content is pervasive and the existential themes are mature. Not appropriate for teens or family viewing.

WISE Breakdown

Wholesome

Palm Springs has a fundamentally sweet romance at its core and explores themes of personal growth and connection. However, it's an R-rated rom-com with adult humor, drinking, drug use, and casual sexual content that undercuts its wholesome messaging. The characters do model eventual emotional vulnerability and working through problems together, but the tone is decidedly adult and cynical for much of the runtime.

Imaginative

The time-loop premise is creatively executed with fresh comedic takes on the Groundhog Day concept. The film explores existential questions about meaning, choice, and connection in inventive ways. It doesn't invite hands-on creativity but does spark philosophical thinking about consequence-free living versus meaningful existence. The desert setting and quantum mechanics subplot add imaginative layers.

Safe

This is an R-rated comedy with explicit sexual content (including nudity), frequent strong language, drug and alcohol use, a suicide scene (played for dark comedy but still present), and adult themes throughout. While it lacks graphic violence or horror, the mature content is pervasive and would be highly inappropriate for younger viewers. The suicide depiction, even in a time-loop context where consequences reset, could be triggering.

Enriching

Beneath the raunchy comedy, Palm Springs offers surprisingly thoughtful exploration of nihilism versus meaning, the importance of consequences, and how genuine connection requires vulnerability and risk. The film tackles depression, purposelessness, and what makes life worth living with more depth than typical rom-coms. However, the entertainment value leans heavily on adult humor rather than pure enrichment.

Parent Info

✓

Why It Might Be Great

Fresh, clever take on the time-loop concept with genuinely funny moments and creative use of the premise
Explores meaningful themes about depression, nihilism, and what makes life worth living beneath the comedy
Andy Samberg and Cristin Milioti have great chemistry and bring emotional depth to characters who could've been one-note
Actually respects its audience's intelligence while delivering laughs—it's philosophical without being pretentious
For adults dealing with existential questions or feeling stuck in life, it's surprisingly cathartic

⚠

What to Watch For

R-rated throughout: sexual content including nudity, frequent strong language, drug and alcohol use as coping mechanisms
Suicide scene played for dark comedy (character repeatedly kills himself to escape the day, knowing he'll reset)
Mature themes about meaninglessness and consequence-free living that could be disturbing out of context
This is absolutely, definitively an adults-only film—not for teens despite the rom-com packaging

Conversation Starters

"If you could live the same day over with no consequences, what would you do? Would that get old?"
"The movie suggests that consequences and the possibility of loss are what make life meaningful. Do you agree?"
"How would you try to break out of a time loop? What would keep you motivated?"
"Do you think Nyles was depressed at the beginning, or just making the best of a bad situation?"

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