Mark (Kyle Allen) is a seventeen year old boy stuck in a time loop. Repeating the same summers day over and over he bides his time learning the routines of the day. Catching a falling mug, passing a jogger a drink and giving an attractive girl directions without her even asking. But his loop becomes more intriguing when he meets Margaret (Kathryn Newton) who is stuck in the same day he is. 

The pair start to spend time together. The only people in their town able to do something different each day. As they begin to discuss their “temporal anomaly” one seems less interested in escaping it than the other. But they stumble upon an idea, can they map out all the tiny perfect things that would normally go missed throughout the day and will that be the key to their escape? 

It seems that “the time loop” film is now a genre unto itself and The Map Of Tiny Perfect Things is officially the “young adult” entry into that genre. Essentially a teen romantic comedy with coming of age elements its best components are its two leads and its flowing choreography during sequences where the characters have learnt the routines of the day. 

Kyle Allen and Kathryn Newton for me have more than a hint of the chemistry that Heath Ledger and Julia Stiles had in “10 Things I Hate About You”. Their relationship builds slowly with Mark making the romantic gestures and Margaret resisting them. Both actors exude teen idealism and energy. They both elevate the film. 

Its weaknesses for me were also tied up in that idealism. Whilst the time loop concept makes it a lot of fun and gives the characters a new way to learn how to grow this is still a wholesome teen romance aimed squarely at a younger audience. I am clearly too old and jaded to not find that a little bit cloying and sickly sweet. 

Whilst it will not be troubling my list of favourite time loops it’s a diverting and idealistic vision of seizing the day.