I do enjoy a good time-loop movie, and it's a film sub-genre that tends to have many more great examples than poor ones. In fact, at this exact moment I cannot think of one time-loop movie that I haven't enjoyed.
Oh, The Map Of Tiny Perfect Things is a time-loop movie. That's only a spoiler if you knew nothing about this film other than the title. The very first moments make clear that this is a time-loop movie, showing Mark (Kyle Allen) going about his day with the confidence and skill of someone who has been through the familiar motions many times before. He doesn't know why he is reliving the same day over and over again, he just knows that he's the only person aware of the situation. Until he realises that he isn't. Yes, there is one other. That person is Margaret (Kathryn Newton). Once they realise that they are both anomalies stuck in an . . . anomaly, well, they start to think up ways to pass the time. And that is when they come up with the idea of a map of tiny perfect things.
The second feature film from director Ian Samuels, this is a big step up from his previous feature, Sierra Burgess Is A Loser. I am willing to say that the difference in quality stems from the script, written by Lev Grossman, adapting his own short story. It's fun without striving to be too funny, emotional and complex without bringing everything grinding to a halt, and somehow easy to believe without having to give a full explanation for things (not until one or two main reveals anyway). It’s a better mix of something for everyone, and Samuels handles everything well.
It also helps that both leads are fantastic. Allen has the charm of someone who knows how to improve any situation, or his character does anyway, and that emanates from the screen whenever he is around. Newton follows up her fun performance in Freaky with something that allows her to be effortlessly cool and likeable. Her character is going through a lot that she tries to hide, but her downswings offset the attempt to be constantly positive from Allen’s character. There are other people involved here, and a couple of the “minor” characters really grow throughout the movie, in terms of how our leads view them anyway, but this generally rests on the shoulders of Allen and Newton, and both are more than up to the task.
It may be more of a teen movie than many other time-loop flicks, but that doesn’t stop it from being almost as good as any others you could choose from. There’s a pleasant score from Tom Bromley running alongside the clean visuals, and the editing is as sharp as it needs to be for this particular sub-genre.
I am not sure how many times I could end up watching this, but I am definitely glad I decided to check it out. It may not be a perfect tiny thing, but it comes close at times.
8/10
If you have enjoyed this, or any other, review on the blog then do consider the following ways to show your appreciation. A subscription/follow costs nothing.
It also costs nothing to like/subscribe to the YouTube channel attached to the podcast I am part of - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCErkxBO0xds5qd_rhjFgDmA
Or you may have a couple of quid to throw at me, in Ko-fi form - https://ko-fi.com/kevinmatthews
No comments:
Post a Comment