Warning: Spoilers ahead for Hulu’s Palm Springs. If you need Hulu’s Palm Springs‘ ending explained, you’re not alone. The rom-com—which stars Andy Samberg and Cristina Miloti—follows two strangers who meet at a Palm Springs wedding and become stuck in a time loop. Palm Springs, which premiered on July 10, ends with the two leads—Nyles (Samberg) and Sarah (Miloti)—falling in love by killing themselves with explosives in the cave where they first became stuck in the time loop in hopes of ending the cycle.
After the explosion, Nyles and Sarah wake up in the pool of a rented house they’ve been at for the wedding of Sarah’s sister Tala, and her fiancé, Abe, dozens of times. However, this time, it isn’t November 9 but the day after: November 10. Nyles and Sarah realize their time loop is broken when the homeowners return and not recognize the couple in their pool. Palm Springs confirm Nyles and Sarah escaped the time loop in the mid-credits scene when Roy (J.K. Simmons), a man who was also stuck in a time loop with Nyles, doesn’t recognize him at the wedding. That’s when Roy realizes that the Nyles he knows is in present day and has escaped the time loop. And then there are also the dinosaurs (the same brontosauri that Nyles and Sarah see earlier in Palm Springs) that Palm Springs shows as the camera pans over the desert of Palm Springs.
So what does it all mean? Did Nyles and Sarah really escape the time loop? Are they dead? Or are they in another timeline somewhere with dinosaurs? Don’t feel bad if you were confused by Palm Springs’ ending. Director Max Barbakow told The Los Angeles Times that Palm Springs‘ ending was vague on purpose.
Image: Christopher Willard/Hulu.
“The intention was always to create an ending that was open to interpretation, where you could arrive at different conclusions about what had happened depending on how you were looking at the world, whether that was in a more optimistic or a more cynical light,” Barbakow said. “I think we all think different things happen after we pull away from that pool. That’s the fun of it. Whatever you wanted to get out of an ending, you can get out of it.”
Writer Andy Siara also told the newspaper that “it was a little more clear what maybe the main interpretation could be” for the Palm Springs. but the ending was changed when Samberg was cast and hired as an executive producer. “We definitely talked about the ending a lot,” Samberg told The Los Angeles Times. “There were many iterations written and even many iterations shot and cut together and screened for small friends-and-family screenings.”
He continued, “It was a real push-and-pull. We didn’t want the ending to feel saccharine, like, ‘Yay, everything works out!’ That felt untrue to the tone of the movie and the promise you had made with the characters. But at the same time you don’t want to end on a note that’s bitter and depressing. It was a delicate balance.”
Miloti also told The Los Angeles Times that it’s possible that Sarah and Nyles are dead, but at least they’re together. “I’m reticent to say what I think because one of my favorite parts about it is how ambiguous it is,” she said. “They could be dead. They could be in a different realm. But it kind of doesn’t matter because they’re together.”
Siara continued, “The hope is it doesn’t really matter if they get out of the loop or if they’re not out of the loop or if they’re in another dimension or whatever. The real emotional arc of the movie ends right before they walk into the cave. Everything else after that is just fun sci-fi.”
As for the dinosaurs, Barbakow told The Los Angeles Times that the animals were a symbol for their relationship. “To me, whether they’re real or not, it’s a nice symbol that falling in love is like seeing dinosaurs in the desert,” he said. “There’s a transcendent wonder in that. You can intellectualize it that way. But it’s also just fun, like, ‘Let’s put some dinosaurs in the movie.’”
Samberg added, “The thing that is so key about the dinosaurs is that Sarah and Nyles both see them,” he says. “Having them there at the ending is a nod to them seeing them earlier [at the campfire]. But it’s also a wink to the audience as well, saying, ‘Whatever you want it to be, that’s what it is.’”
So what does Palm Springs‘ ending mean? Well, according to the creators, it’s whatever the audience interprets. Regardless if Sarah and Nyles escape the time loop or if they’ve died by the cave explosion, they at least get to spend eternity (or their lives) together.
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