Staff Pick (Intern Edition): Film Intern Zack Fernandez reviews Palm Springs (2020)
Andy Siara kills two birds that most people wouldn’t dare touch with the same stone. Palm Springs (2020) presents an interesting and novel fusion between two genres: Sci-Fi x Rom-Com. With such an interesting concept, just watching the film will make you feel a well-crafted script dancing with life.
From the hilarious dialogue to the intriguing, non-linear time-loop driven structure, Palm Springs offers a unique exploration of raw themes, delivered in an authentic, hilarious, and off-kilter package that resonates. When watching the film, one must admire how Siara took rather normal everyday settings and added color to them – he infuses a Wild West dive bar with a Bonnie and Clyde-esque dance sequence, or a simple campfire scene with living dinosaurs to create the experience of a mushroom trip. It’s hard to deny the value of simplicity in a script, re-defined by interesting layers that create a result that jumps off the screen.
When viewing the film, the writing feels refreshingly down to Earth and the world contains a touch of caricature-like essence: something that can be felt with the constant cracking of beers, tacky pool floaties, and mystical other-worldly cave… not to mention the goat that was featured in the opening shot. Overall, Siara does an exceptional job of creating “something” out of seemingly “nothing”, and adding substance to normal elements that would normally come across as “everyday things”. He effectively makes a normal world otherworldly. To learn more about Andy Siara and his inspirations for writing “Palm Springs” check out his interview with AFF via On Story, Season 13 Episode 8. Don’t forget to pick up your badge for the 30th Annual Austin Film Festival to hear from more great writers like Andy Siara!
Watch On Story Episode:
Re-living Palm Springs with Andy Siara
This week on On Story, writer Andy Siara discusses his breakout screenplay, Palm Springs, the irreverent science-fiction, romantic comedy starring Andy Samberg. Siara deep-dives into the story’s time-bending structure and discusses the art of combining genre in service of story.