WARNING: Spoilers for Palm Springs
Palm Springs received widespread critical acclaim, with many praising its fresh spin on its core concept and performances of the two leads. In 2020's nonexistent summer movie season, Palm Springs has stood out as a quality offering for cinephiles to check out.
One of the reasons why Palm Springs is so well-received is its balancing of multiple genres. The film has rom-com and sci-fi elements, blending them together into a unique package. The combination provided the creative team with some challenges, particularly when it came to crafting the movie's ending. That wasn't a task Samberg and company took lightly, and they made sure all their bases were covered when working on the film.
At the end of Palm Springs, Nyles (Samberg) and Sarah (Milioti) blow themselves up in an effort to escape the time loop - and it works. But that was just one possible conclusion, as Samberg explained to Collider:
“Without saying what the other ones were, we definitely went through many drafts of the ending. Different versions. We even shot a few different versions. We re-edited it a few different ways, and kind of landed on what we had by way of doing like small friends and family screenings and polling people until we got to one where, three screenings in a row after the ending we said, ‘Did everyone like the ending?’ and everyone raised their hand. And we were like, ‘Alright, it might not be perfect but everyone liked it!’ (laughs).”
While this approach meant doing extra work (some of which was ultimately left on the cutting room floor), going in this direction was smart. Endings can make or break a film, so it was important for Palm Springs' to stick the landing. It was also smart to vet the opinions of family and friends to get an outsiders' perspective of what worked and what didn't. In the same interview, Samberg mentioned how Palm Springs' trio of threads (rom-com, nihilism, and sci-fi) made the process all the more complicated, as their goal was to find an ending that serviced all three without cheapening anything. Based on responses to the movie, it's safe to say it worked out for the best and the filmmakers made the right choice ending Palm Springs they way they did.
Still, it's hard not to wonder what those alternate endings entailed. There could be versions of Palm Springs where Nyles and Sarah died in the explosion, or were unsuccessful in breaking out of the loop. It'll be interesting to see if the other Palm Springs endings are ever revealed. Samberg's reluctance to discuss them in detail suggests they could remain a mystery, but perhaps after the film's been out for longer, the creative team may be more comfortable talking about alternate endings in detail. Right now, with Palm Springs still a new release, they understandably want people focused on the actual ending instead of thinking about the alternate ones and if they'd improve or hurt the movie.
Source: Collider
