The Map Of Tiny Perfect Things (3 Stars)

Amazon Friday #8

This is a story about a young man being caught in a day that repeats itself every 24 hours. That's not an original idea. It's a story first told in "Groundhog Day" in 1993, and it's been repeated in different forms since then, for instance in "Happy Death Day"

To be precise, 17-year-old Mark relives 16 hours every day. At precisely midnight every day he passes out and wakes up in bed at 8 am of the same day. Some days he even stands watching his watch waiting for the moment to happen. The difference between "The Map of Tiny Perfect Things" and previous films is that the film doesn't start with the beginning of the time loop. When we first see Mark the day has already repeated many times over. We're not told how many times. 50 times? 100 times? More? We just know it's a lot, and he's grown used to dealing with everything that happens.

Mark is using the repeated days to get together with a girl he meets at an outdoor swimming pool. She likes him, and he walks her home, but he's never invited in, however much he rehearses his charm. One day his meeting is interrupted by a young blond girl who was never there before. Realising something is wrong, he follows her. Her name is Margaret, and she tells him that she's also caught in the time loop. Mark forgets the other girl and concentrates all his attention on Margaret.

The two young people meet every day. Mark falls in love with Margaret, but she remains cool. It's enough for her to remain friends. Together they enjoy watching the little things that people usually miss, such as a bird catching a fish, an old couple dancing or a cloud shaped like a question mark. They come to the conclusion that they'll only escape the day when they've made a map of the town marking the places and times of all these tiny perfect things.

This is a cute little romantic story that made me smile at times, but the whole premise of the story is too ridiculous to take seriously. Who defines what the tiny perfect things are? They're just the subjective opinions of the two teenagers. I might have picked completely different occurrences. Apart from that, why are they in a hurry to escape the time loop? Being trapped alone in a repeating day, like Bill Murray in "Groundhog Day", must get boring after a while, but being trapped with someone else, a member of the opposite sex that you're attracted to, has a lot of promise. You can do different things with one another every day, the relationship can progress, and it also involves living forever.

Margaret's attitude towards Mark is strange. She's obviously attracted to him, but she doesn't kiss him until she sees a way to escape the repetition. If she's finally prepared to show her feelings, it's all the more reason for her to want to remain in the day.

There are a lot of references to other films and television series. "Doctor Who" is mentioned so often that it gets tiresome. "Groundhog Day" is mentioned twice, and there are hints of "Donnie Darko" and "Star Wars".

The film is an Amazon Original, so it's only available on Amazon Prime, not on disc.