Directed by Ian Samuels
Written by Lev Grossman
Starring Kathryn Newton and Kyle Allen
Runtime: 1 hour 38 minutes
Rated PG-13 for brief strong language, some teen drinking and sexual references
Available on Amazon Prime streaming Feb. 12

by Ryan Silberstein, Managing Editor, The Red Herring

“Is this all there is?”

Do all people go through existential crises from time to time? I hope so. Throughout my life, I have often stopped to ask, “Is this all there is?” before moving on and trying to distract myself with something shiny or sweet. This is a question asked by Margaret (Kathyrn Newton), one of two characters stuck in a time loop in The Map of Tiny Perfect Things. Her version of life is more limited, living the same day over and over again, but still asking, “is this what life is?” You go to work, you pass through life, and then eventually, it ends?

Of course, this is the same message at the center of every time loop movie, from Groundhog Day–namechecked in this film–to the more recent Happy Death Day and Palm Springs. By creating a temporal microcosm, the premise engages with existential crises head on, but also in a way that allows someone to seem really cool because they know exactly when the toast is done every morning. When the film begins, Mark (Kyle Allen) is already deep into his loop. He seems to know everything, from the answers to his father’s crossword to when someone is going to cause an accident because they’re texting while driving. He has a routine, mostly trying some A/B testing in matters of seducing a girl at the local pool (it never works). In one loop, he and Margaret cross paths, and they realize they are both reliving the same day over and over again.

Both of them are stuck, and after circling each other for a bit, they eventually become friends. The film, with Lev Grossman’s script, gives off similar vibes to that of a John Green novel; the characters are super knowledgeable about pop culture, science, and other facts, as well as being extremely insecure. While blending the time loop premise with young adult (YA) fiction may seem like it could create a baklava of clichés, Grossman and Samuels embrace what makes these genres distinct while keeping everything focused on these specific characters. It helps that both Newton and Allen are extremely likeable. Mark is cute, self-centered, and not dumb, so much as lazy. Margaret is protective of herself, yet driven. What unites them in this loop is their shared fear of the future. Mark’s is obvious; his parents want him to go to a more practical college, he wants to go to art school. Margaret hides her reasons for being so, but they are no less poignant.

These characters are in a time loop because they feel like they lack control in their lives. Knowing what is going to happen every day is the perfect balm in that way, they have total control, and are free from consequence. Both perform experiments of various kinds, another way of trying to assert control on an indifferent universe. This desire for control manifests as some of our most selfish impulses. We want the world to be perfect for us. Walking around with the day’s lottery numbers in your head, or knowing where construction equipment with the keys inside is parked, that is a kind of power. No wonder that Bill Murray’s Groundhog Day character compares himself to a god. Palm Springs makes the idea of comfort in the familiar the core of its time loop narrative, while Happy Death Day doubles down on the selflessness angle.

The film’s title refers to an activity that Mark and Margaret come up with; they want to log all of the small perfect moments that happen on their day. A man on a bench looks like an angel thanks to the graphics on the van behind him, some bikers stop traffic for a turtle, clouds that look like a question mark all make the cut. They start to appreciate the little things, but only as observers. They are still just passing through the day. It is only when they choose to participate in life that it stops threatening to pass them by. They have to get vulnerable and open themselves up to the joy, sadness, and other emotions of the people in their lives.

The Map of Tiny Perfect Things is yet another example of when a familiar idea and setting are executed well, their familiarity is not a mark against it (and may even be an asset). While the story is still mostly framed from Mark’s perspective (even though he says it’s not his story during one of his epiphanies), Grossman successfully avoids making Margaret into a character that only exists to make Mark a better person. But there’s no doubt in my mind that Kathryn Newton easily could have carried this film as a lead, and the sequences here that are fully hers are elevated for it.

“Is this all there is?”

Maybe, but distancing yourself from it accomplishes nothing. Live a little.