Reviewing- ‘The Map of Tiny Perfect Things’

Time is everything and you will know why

I just completed watching a science fiction cum romantic comedy-drama called ‘The map of tiny perfect things.’ Yes, that’s a lot of genres packed in one movie. It is an American movie released in 2021. I will try and share why the film worked for me and why it didn't at some places. Kathryn Newton as Margaret and Kyle Allen as Mark are in the lead roles.

The Plot

Mark, played by Kyle is a teenage kid studying Arts in school who is stuck in a time loop, where each day keeps repeating itself. He is living the same day, every day, until he bumps into another girl Margaret played by Kathryn, who is also stuck in the same loop as him.

In the beginning, both of them enjoy the thrill of already knowing what will happen next and controlling them before they happen, which amuses people around them. They live their lives in the most bizarre way possible, as they know things would be just as they were the next day.

But there comes a point, where Mark convinces Margaret to stop fooling around and try to break this time loop so they can live an actual life. He is awakened by a conversation with his sister, the previous day, where he realizes none of his family members are benefiting by being stuck in this time loop. Margaret on the other hand doesn't want this time loop to end ever. Of course, it will all make sense later, why she was being such an ass.

They both go their separate ways, but there comes a time where Margaret realizes she has to let go of time as she cannot fight death. Yes, the reason she wants time to be stuck is that she fears losing a loved one. Once realized, she goes back to working on a map of tiny perfect things, Mark had suggested when they were hanging out together.

According to Mark, the perfect moments they captured every day, we're creating a certain pattern which when put together would make perfect sense. Margaret goes to all those places, marks the perfect moments they explored together, notes them in her diary, and plots a map out of them. And there you go, she gets an almost perfect ‘fourth dimension’ which she always tried to find as a child.

But there was one pattern missing in that perfect map which she figures out along with Mark towards the end of the film. I could write about that too, but you would kill me for that as I didn't shout ‘Spoiler alert’ before doing that.

The Good

The film has an amazing concept, despite not being the first one to play along the same ‘time’ theme. But I would say the makers took a huge risk and tried to create the best they could.

I loved the cinematography, production design, and background score of this film. It completes justice to it.

The lead pair are kind of cute together and they bring a certain amount of innocence on-screen, keeping in mind they both are geniuses in their own ways. Their relationship is genuine and not forced, as you would expect any movie with teenager plots in it.

The focus on relationships is surreal. I loved the way they have portrayed values such as nurturing relationships with parents, siblings, friends, animals, or with one's love interest.

They have tried to convey a positive outlook towards, life, death, and obviously time.

The Bad

The film was painfully slow to watch. Yes, I get it. The time was broken and the characters were stuck, but they could have played with a little more situations than they actually did. (I struggled to sit after the second half.)

A lot of things were left ambiguous in the film. The makers will rub the fact in your face repeatedly that the lead pair is stuck in time, but how their day ends, what happens to things after they are broken, is not really explained.

They have left it to the viewer’s imagination. It is good, but not for a person like me who lacks scientific knowledge and imagination.

In closing

Overall, a good film. One-time watch, of course. But one thing I can assure you is after watching this film, you will start valuing time much more. It is a nightmare to imagine yourself being stuck in a day forever.

Imagine, you had a bad day, and that day is stuck in a time loop.

You would lose the zeal to live anymore or you would just want to fly out of that time loop so you can actually live a new day.

As Steve Jobs correctly questioned,

‘’If today were the last day of your life, would you want to do what you are about to do today?’’

Imagine the above quote in the movie's context now and you will get the perfect answer. Thank you for reading.

Bhavna Narula, 2021