The Map of Tiny Perfect Things

Time loop movies are nothing new and with Palm Spring currently in the awards season spotlight they’re more popular than ever at the moment. It’s perhaps why The Map of Tiny Perfect Things is simply okay and nothing too profound. It’s a teen romcom featuring two people who are stuck replaying the same day over and over again. Sound familiar? As I said, time loop movies are nothing new, and The Map of Tiny Perfect Things doesn’t really do anything that hasn’t been done before. It’s not terrible, but it’s far from perfect though.

Mark (Kyle Allen) has found himself living the same day over and over again, and it begins with him waking up in his bed when the clock strikes midnight no matter what he’s doing or where he is. So far he’s managed to memorize plenty of things around town, allowing him Groundhog Day the situation and essentially become an omniscient being to everyone else. What he doesn’t see coming though is Margaret (Kathryn Newton), who interrupts him one day, and he learns that she too is repeating the same day over and over again. The two decide to work together to figure out how to get out of their neverending day, deciding to seek out every tiny little perfect moment that happens that day thinking it’ll maybe solve a part of the puzzle. But for both Mark and Margaret, there are some things that they don’t necessarily want to come to an end.

The Map of Tiny Perfect Things doesn’t go into great detail about the time loop itself. At the beginning of the film Mark is already who knows how many iterations into the loop but clearly it’s enough for him to memorize all sorts of patterns around town. Like many time loop films, we don’t know what caused it either. It simply exists. The whole premise of the film then follows the straightforward path of trying to get out of the loop. It’s nothing special I’m afraid to say.

Both Kyle Allen and Kathryn Newton are fine in their roles as two teenagers stuck in a time loop who eventually fall for each other but just like the loop itself, everything is expected. The whole plot itself feels like it’s stuck in a loop. Thankfully it does both the time loop elements and the romantic plotline well enough that it’s still entertaining. Allen and Newton are charming and definitely have chemistry; I just wish the film would have stepped out of its loop and took some chances rather than play it safe.

Now available to stream on Amazon Prime Video, The Map of Tiny Perfect Things is perfectly sufficient at keeping your attention for an hour and 40 minutes. As far as time loop films go, it’s very middle ground. But if you’re looking for a dash of teen romance thrown into your science fiction, then this is the film for you.