Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow is Groundhog Day
Those who don't learn from the past are doomed to repeat it. Or something like that.
Everyday feels like groundhog day. Everyday feels like groundhog day. Everyday feels like groundhog day --
The now countless lockdowns and restrictions, having to work from home and being cooped up can lead to troubling effects. Seasonal depression and less sun light can make days feel like they are at the same time flying by and melting together. Living in a city with seasonal changes can have its advantages and year long mild climate isn't all sunshine and unicorns1. So why do we have to rely on a fucking rodent2 to determine whether or not we are stuck in the same place we are now.
Leave it to Harold Ramis and Bill Murray to create a piece of movie magic that has been replicated several times since with varying degrees of success. Groundhog Day is a 1993 film directed by Harold Ramis adapted from a short story called 12:01 P.M. by Richard A. Lupoff where the central plot point of the story is a time loop. In both, the main character, unknowingly enters a time loop where they must repeat the same day over and over again with no obvious method of escaping.
Bill Murray plays a television weather reporter who is sent to the small town of Punxsutawney to film the town's groundhog see its shadow. Bill Murray plays the character as this cynical middle aged man who is stuck in a rut and stuck in his ways, primed for what will happen to him. After begrudgingly reporting this epic news, he wakes up the next morning to discover he is repeating that same day over again. In the film, he begins to hate this ever lasting limbo of repetition but with that amount of time, one inevitably learns self reflect and he begins to use his strange circumstances to his advantage. He learns new skills, his perspective on his life changes many times, he begins to take notice of seemingly meaningless occurrences in the every day and ordinary. There are important lessons to be learned from this film about slowing down, appreciating what you have and living in the moment. Living a cynical life leads nowhere fast as the film would suggest.
If this film was made today, Bill Murray would begin his time loop baking bread, then partake in several viral pasta recipes and perhaps start a TikTok account recounting his repeating day. Since its premiere in 1993, there have been several homages and films that use the time loop plot device to try and tell their story. (There is a sort of irony to re using this particular plot device over again.) Some films have executed the time loop better than others and even use the loose idea of repeating the same day of your life over again in different ways. There are shows like Russian Doll on Netflix that base their entire existence on a time loop that the main character must escape from. While there are some one-off episodes of TV like the 6 time lines episodes of Community that are loosely based on time loops or alternate time lines. There are several episodes of shows like Star Trek that are directly based in a time loop, this plot device certainly wasn’t invented with Groundhog Day. It goes without mentioning the growing popularity of the multiverse that has taken over Marvel but sometimes this loop hole can be seen as crutch in story telling. Perhaps these examples aren't the best but the ideas are the same. They put characters in situations where they must slow down and reflect on the events occurring in their life. They present opportunity for second chances. Bill Murray's character was stuck in a time loop because refused to change. It was not until he made the necessary changes with himself that he escaped the loop. The message of these films are clearly that you will not see change unless you change yourself or you that you won't make progress by doing the same things over and over again. This deep and important messaging is packaged nicely into a comedy with Bill Murray, making it a classic in my eyes.
There are a few films that stick out to me as successful homages to Groundhog Day. The first is a bit of a reach because it is a sci-fi film where the time loop is deliberately created by the characters instead of accidentally falling into it. It's a small film called Primer (2004). This is a film where somebody creates time travel and inadvertently creates a time loop for themselves. No spoilers but it is a confusing film with enough twists to excite an entire subreddit. It is a very satisfying watch if you're into internet theories or if you really like movies that finish and you immediately say: “I’m sorry, what?” Seriously tho, like what is this.
The second is Doug Liman's 2014 film Edge of Tomorrow, adapted from the Japanese manga All You Need is Kill by Hiroshi Sakurazaka. Tom Cruise plays a man thrown into a war with aliens and when he dies in battle he wakes up to realize he has begun the same day again. He has to re do his death again. Effective use of the groundhog day mechanism in an entirely different context. Great film. Whenever folks of a manga say the western adaptation is good then it’s more than good enough for me.3
This next example is one of the more recent and most blatant homage to groundhog day, same genre but this time the cynical white male stuck in a time loop isn't stuck in Punxsutawney in February but instead is forced to live on a sunny resort for a forever wedding. Its 2021's Palm Springs directed by Max Barbakow. It is essentially modern Groundhog Day (save for the pasta and tiktoks). This go around however, the main character isn't going in alone. Nyles (Andy Samberg) lives an unhappy life, stuck in a loveless relationship with no real goals or dreams. What makes this different and acutely more modern is that we see that this infinite vacation isn't so dreadful as Nyles simply accepts his new weird reality. Stuck on vacation, no consequences, no responsibilities forever? Doesn't sound all too bad.
It is not until Nyles accidentally brings Sarah (Christin Milioti) into the time loop that the film evolves into something different entirely. Until Sarah, Andy was content in his infinite life. Meaning: he drank a lot and fucked around. He was a frat boy or a grown ass Peter Pan. Sarah however was not too pleased to have to relive her sister's wedding day (for several reasons). The film then grows into a two handed relationship rom com that exists somewhere between an Albert Brooks4 and Adam Sandler film. The couple lives out an entire relationship within a day to only repeat it once they wake up. Sort of a horrifying thing to think about, it’s like living your life on a treadmill (without the physical exercise benefits). The film then turns into a great escape type film where the characters are desperate to find their way out of the never ending cycle of monotony.
The final film I want to highlight as effectively using the Groundhog Day trope just won The Academy Award for best live action short film. Two Distant Strangers a film directed by Travon Free and Martin Desmond Roe. It takes the time loop and turns it into a modern day horror film. Joey Bada$$ plays a guy just trying to get home to his dog after a night out5. The simple premise turns horrific when he is approached by a police officer who harasses and ultimately kills him, which then wakes him up to relive that day again. The short doesn’t use any subtlety when it comes to its messaging and with good reason. Before the final credits, the film lists some names of black folks being killed at the hands of cops showing the reality of today. It is a stark and eye opening film that shows where we are currently and how many times this happens. Joey Bada$$ is a stand in for many minorities and the time loop is a clever way of showing how widespread this epidemic is. This shit happening every day and nothing seems to change.
It is easy to feel trapped or stuck in the same place. Time loops don’t just exist in films. Sometimes there could be a harrowing feeling that time sort of passes through you rather than you moving through it. These films shows that helpless feeling quite literally and while the ways in which the time loop begins differs from film to film, the way they escape are usually the same -- through change. Changing their perspective or changing their attitude on their current situation is usually the answer. Albert Einstein said that insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result. He seemed to know stuff. Unlike these films, we are not given the gift of infinite time and chances, we can't simply start over again. Get off the treadmill to nowhere and start running or watch your favourite film over and over again, that usually makes me feel better.
Groundhog Day Ranking:
8.5/10 shadowless rodents.
After every review on a film, I will give out a few recommendations. Think the “more like this” feature on Netflix but better. I am reaching this week because I wrote about quite a few in this one.
FILMS TO WATCH IF YOU LIKED THIS ONE:
50 First Dates Peter Segal (2004) — Netflix
Run Lola Run Tom Tykwer (1998)
The Endless Aaron Moorhead, Justin Benson (2018) — PrimeVideo
Thank you for reading!
Comment your favourite Groundhog Day type film!
La La Land had title cards for different seasons with no notable changes in climate to show how every month of the year feels the same. I’m sure evoking a different kind of seasonal depression.
There is a political joke somewhere in there.
If you yourself disagree I am sorry but I like the damn movie.
Highly recommend Modern Romance (1991), Lost in America (1985) or this show called The Simpsons I hear is pretty good.