The Map Of Tiny Perfect Things (2021) Movie Review

 Surprisingly Good, Surprisingly Amusing

Meet Mark, a hyperenergetic teen who just loves to mess arround. There's a catch though, he lives the same day over and over. Every single day of his life is the last one repeated. He knows exactly what will happen, exactly what people will say, will do. (Yes, like the Groundhog Day, exactly like that) (Yes, also like the Edge Of Tomorrow, well, minus all the war stuff) Mark is a teen with a perfect family that he has problems with. He is mortal enemies with his sister, like every teen in the world, and he's angry at his father for not making more money. Still, Mark is a really good kid, and a really good person. He just has that thing, the one with living the same day over and over. Just when he thinks he's the only non-dreamer in the world, Margaret happens. Margaret is a girl of his dream, since she is also a non-dreamer. They start a friendship and become more than that real soon. Well, to Mark at least. Though Margaret has other stuff she's carrying on her shoulders, heavier stuff. They both seem like they want to escape this never-ending day, but that's not the case. When Mark offers a move on their future, everything falls apart at first, but then gets crystal clear. Starring Kathryn Newton (as Margaret) and Kyle Allen (as Mark) along with rising starts I've been following Jermaine Harris (as Henry the friend of Mark) and Cleo Fraser (as Emma the sister). Without further ado, let's get into the review.

First of all, I must say when I first came across this movie (I was looking at some posters, again) I quite liked the idea of it. It's like Groundhog Day meets Palm Springs, but in like a teen romance kind of way. In the last few years, this idea, living the same day over and over, got scratched quite a lot. And it turns out, it still works. People love all that sci-fi stuff in their romance it turns out, not so surprisingly. Still, I was a bit worried if it would be a bit cheesy when mixed with teen romance, cos you know, most of the teen romance titles these days are already cheesy on their own anyways. But after the first 20 minutes or so, I was convinced pretty much about it, it just works.

The thing I loved the most about the movie was the writing, and I love to see good writing in movies. Then after watching the movie, I did a little research. Turns out the screenplay was written by the guy himself, Lev Grossman, who also wrote the short story "The Map Of Tiny Perfect Things". I must say, the story is just lovely. The fact that the story evolves arround Mark, yet further in the movie it turns out it's not actually Mark's little universe kind of a story, didn't really shock me, but was quite a surprise. So yep, I loved the story, I loved the screenplay.

I also need to mention the acting. Both Allen and Newton are shining in their roles. They seem passionate, bold and ambitious with their characters, and I loved that. Newton especially, is just one with her role, such a good actress she is. Not only them, but the side characters for the story, also look really, really close to home. Cleo Fraser didn't surprise me with her acting, and Jermaine Harris showed real potential. Long story short; acting, good, perfect, lovely.

The lenght of movie seems ideal, not too short, not longer than it could hold, just fine. The pace of the movie is really fine as well. The story is not rushing itself to the ending, which is a common thing for these genres. It's also not too slow paced, so it doesn't bore you. As I said, the pace of it is just working fine. As I was watching it, I though it even could be a tv series really, it has like 4 solid 20 mins episodes in it. A really succesful example of setting the true pace this movie, liked it.

Character development is a plus as well. Characters, especially main characters develop into something more in every scene. Even the sister, which has little to no scenes in the movie really, has a strong character in the end. I must say, pretty impressing work in development of the characters. The only character I didn't see developing was the father really. I could see that he was developing, even if it's a slow paced one, but still, he didn't move forward that much really. He actually is the same character from the beginning. He just got his head out of his depressive crossword puzzles. His development was much weaker than the others, and that, is one of my limited cons of the movie.

And we come to my only big con. I didn't like the constant Groundhog Day, Palm Springs, Edge Of Tomorrow references. Yes, I love all of those movies. Hell, I watch Groundhog Day nearly twice a year. But, even though the referencing is fine, and even though it adds a funny quirk to the comedy, it's better to keep those limited. Once is fine, twice is fine, but referencing Groundhog Day somewhere arround 10 times in a single movie, even if that movie is the same concept, is a lot. I get the idea behind it, I get that they used those references with Henry for example,to question Mark's motives, but still, I don't like it. That's nearly the only downside of the movie for me by the way, and even that is not just that big of a deal.

Yes, maybe it's not a Groundhog Day, but maybe that's not the point. The Map Of Tiny Things offers a good, sweet time and manages to amuse the viewer. Even with the tiny little cons, the movie shows a succesful filmmaking and a lovely story. If you're looking for a sweet little love story, try this one. You won't regret it. The Map Of Tiny Perfect Things is an Amazon Studios feature of 2021, and is now streaming on Amazon. 

Cinemortals Rating : 8/10

Reviewed By : Batuhan