"Most of life is just junk. It's filler. And then, there are these moments, and all the randomness turns into something perfect."
Director: Ian Samuels
Where Available: Amazon Prime
Rating:
The Map of Tiny Perfect Things was a 2021 release that I was extremely excited about, and I was not disappointed. Romance is one of my favorite movie genres but not necessarily young adult stories. Most of my favorite romances are all about adults. This might just be because I like watching older actors, but I don’t think that any teen-romance has really connected with me as a 17-year-old. The only ones I can think about that REALLY stuck with me are The Perks of Being a Wallflower and 10 Things I Hate About You. It has been a long time since I have watched a teen romance that was really relatable and emotional. TMOTPT was definitely both.
The Map of Tiny Perfect Things follows a teenager contentedly living the same day in an endless loop who gets his world turned upside-down when he meets a girl who’s also stuck in the time warp. What follows is a love story with a fantastical twist, as the two struggle to find out how - and whether - to escape their never-ending day.
Kathryn Newton is really making her way up in Hollywood. From her role in Big Little Lies as Abigail Carlson to Mollie Kessler in Freaky, she is everywhere! Most recently, it was announced that she was going to be playing Cassie Lang, Scott Lang’s daughter, in the upcoming Marvel movie Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, a future team member of the Young Avengers. I don’t think that this movie shows her at her peak, but I still loved her character. She was a classic nerdy/emo character with a sad backstory who makes the boy realize that life is worth living. Who could ask for anything more?
Kyle Allen is a new actor on my radar. Other than TMOTPT, he was in a recent release called All My Life, a super sad romance. A HUGE project coming up with Allen is the Steven Spielberg movie West Side Story, where he will be a part of the Jet ensemble. Not sure what kind of reviews that movie is going to get because of the questionable lead action but I am excited to see Allen show off some of his dance moves! He was so cute and charming as Mark in this film and even though Allen isn’t a teenager, he perfectly portrayed a teen hopeless romantic stuck in a time loop.
The only negative comments I have seen about this film is when it is being compared to Palm Springs, another quarantine Groundhog day release. Of course, both of these stories drew inspiration from the Groundhog Day movie, but there is no reason to say that TMOTPT is a copy when Palm Springs is also a copy. TMOTPT is about teenagers in a small town navigating love and isolation, NOT adults attending a wedding and then trying to find fun ways to die so the day starts over again. With this film, we follow the anxieties and awkwardness of teenage relationships (especially in isolation, which I will get to later). You can compare the base of the story being set in a time loop but the plots are targeted towards different audiences and have different messages attached.
(I also want to add in that the director Ian Samuels REALLY stepped up his game from directing Sierra Burgess is a Loser to THIS. That is character development!)
The reason I got so emotional while watching this movie is because of isolation. Mark and Margaret are the only people in the entire world who are aware they are re-living the same exact day over and over again. Ever since quarantine started, every day has felt the same for me: an infinite loop of waking up, eating, going to school, eating, showering, and going back to bed just to do it all over again the next day. However, TMOTPT reminded me that even in these repetitive days, there are "Tiny Perfect Things" all around us that we would miss if we didn't slow down. Mark and Margaret make their, what seems like infinite days, enjoyable by trying to find every perfect moment together that they would ignore before they got stuck.
I really recommend The Map of Tiny Perfect Things to anyone who has felt alone during the pandemic, single or in a relationship. It is also just a great teen romance that you don't want to miss. It made me EXTREMELY emotional. I'm a crier. Amazon Prime did a great job with this, better than Netflix is doing in the teen romance department. I can't wait to see what movie Amazon will make me cry at next!
Quotes:
"Time is the stuff that when you spend it, you never get back."
"Do you ever wish today happened on a different day?"
"Most of life is just junk. It's filler. And then, there are these moments, and all the randomness turns into something perfect."
"It's like everyone else is dreaming and you are the only one awake?"
"I don’t want to seize the day, I just don’t want the day to cease me."
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