The end of Palm Springs defies the cosmic explanation of saying something deeper

[[[[Ed. Note: This story contains major spoilers for the end of Hulu. Palm springs.]

Approximately half an hour in Palm springs, after Sarah (Cristin Milioti) has lived the same day several times, she decides that she has solved everything. “Maybe it’s a karma thing,” she says to her partner Nyles (Andy Samberg) as they eat burritos. “To get out of this, you have to be selfless, and then you’re free.” That night, while standing in her bridesmaid dress at her sister’s wedding, Sarah tests her theory. She interrupts the couple’s vows to whisper a long confession to her sister. When this act of disinterest ends, a tremor shakes the procedures, as if to underline the greatness of the step he has just taken.

In another time loop story, let’s say, Groundhog day or Russian doll – This would be the climax, a sign that the protagonist had achieved the necessary emotional growth and that he could now be released from his temporary prison by any cosmic force that put them there in the first place. But in Palm springs, things don’t work that way. Whatever Sarah or Nyles learn about themselves as they continually tour the same day in Southern California, that knowledge alone is not enough to return them to their original timeline.

Because the Palm springs the characters finally rely on hard science rather than divine intervention to get them out of their circle, it may seem like the movie is not interested in morals. The only thing that keeps these characters trapped is their ignorance of advanced physics; Once you have learned the science behind your bubble, there is nothing stopping you from leaving, regardless of how much personal growth you have experienced.

But that reading loses a crucial element of Palm springs‘moral arc. The characters are in charge of their own outings. But to get out of the cycle of time, they have to become the kind of people who will really choose to leave a safe place where they have infinite freedom, as long as they accept that their decisions don’t matter.

This dynamic is illustrated more explicitly with Roy (JK Simmons), the third participant in the time cycle. Nyles draws him into the circle after getting too literal about Roy’s drunken statement that he would love for the night party to go on forever. Initially, Roy responds to his situation with rage and violence, sadistically torturing Nyles with countless excruciating deaths. But after experiencing the same pain in Sarah’s hands, he begins a journey of self-reflection, coming to appreciate the quiet suburban life from which he had originally been so eager to escape. The Roy who returns to the wedding at the end of the film is a transformed man who sees fatherhood as a gift, rather than punishment. That leaves him ready to risk everything to return to his family.

Sarah, meanwhile, enters the time loop adrift and unmoored. For a self-centered divorcee who ends up in bed with her future brother-in-law the night before their wedding, committing to learning enough about quantum physics to get out of the cycle of time may not seem like an arc of personal growth, particularly since it seems to start as a way. of avoiding a growing emotional attachment to Nyles. But as a character who is more likely to run away when things get tough rather than face her problems directly, committing to a lengthy and complicated research project is a massive development, one that ultimately lays the foundation for the emotional growth she needs. to return to Nyles and offer him the chance for a real relationship, in the real world.

Photo: Hulu

And although we are never explicitly told who Nyles was at the beginning of his journey, it is easy to see him as a deviant boyfriend in love after discovering that his girlfriend was cheating on him. Ultimately, he consoles himself in his parallel universe where nothing can really be a surprise, and everything resets at the end of the day. As he meets and loses Sarah, he is forced to deal with the possibility that it is worth risking a few things. Learn that not knowing what comes next is both a gift and a curse.

On all these trips, the active option to abandon the cycle is the key moment of growth. It is a way for characters to take control of their destinies, rather than waiting for cosmic power to influence. Like many previous existentialist works, Palm springs It recognizes that morality does not need to be externally imposed to shape our lives. We don’t need a cosmic marker to determine when we’ve really learned our lesson, or if we’ve grown enough to leave. Contrary to Nyles’ original assessment of her situation, we must reject the idea that, without some divine power setting our course, nothing matters. We need to recognize that the meaning we find in our lives is the meaning we actively bring to it.

Palm springs it forces its protagonists to take charge of their own moral development, to discover when they have learned the lesson and what lesson they need to learn in the first place. It’s a much more challenging task than what was put in before Phil Groundhog day or Nadia in Russian doll. And it reflects more closely what each of us goes through in our daily lives.

Vox Media has affiliate associations. These do not influence editorial content, although Vox Media may earn commissions for products purchased through affiliate links. For more information, see our ethics policy.