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The Map of Tiny Perfect Things is a rather overlong title, which gave the impression of a teen romance film that wasn’t as twee as the name would make it seem.
It’s early morning for Mark (Kyle Allen), who seems remarkable adept, as he throws his breakfast around, catching it every single time… but that’s because he’s living the same day over and over.
As such, he’s become so used to life that he knows exactly what’s going to happen and when, so on his travels around the town, he can tell a man “Bless you” before he sneezes, and give directions to a young woman, Phoebe (Anna Mikami), who hasn’t even asked for them yet, as well as knowing where she is to ask her out later, AND win the lottery!
So, rather like Groundhog Day – which it also references, along with dropping in Time Bandits, along with a couple of scenes from the latter as he watches it.
On one of these days, he chances upon Margaret (Kathryn Newton – looking like a young Virginia Madsen. They’re not related, but a quick Google shows I’m not the only one to realise this), who’s going through the same situation. As we learn later, she has her own trials and tribulations going on in her life, including something of a mystery in relation to a man called Jared. Who is he, and why does he have an apparent hold on her?
However, for the time she’s with Mark, and he figures that life has only a number of tiny perfect things in life that it’ll introduce to us throughout our lives – and what if you could capture them all in one day – can they… yes… create a map of them?
It sounds more cheesy than it is, but I love films based around time-travel or bending time in some way. There’s amusing moments such as when Mark tries out different haircuts – which reminds me of GTA San Andreas, there’s also some low moments when, even for this pair, living the same day gets a bit tiresome once the initial novelty wears off. But is there a way in which they can break out of it?
Based on screenwriter Lev Grossman‘s own short story, The Map Of Tiny Perfect Things works well with a pair of likeable leads who bounce off each other nicely, and it also has a nicely complementary soundtrack, so if we were back in the ’80s, I could see this film fitting alongside many of those classics of the time quite happily.
As an aside, these two are supposed to be 17, but in reality, he’s almost 27, while she’s 24… but I digress.
There’s also one part of the storyline that’s not a spoiler, but which is not mentioned in the trailer so I’ll still hide it behind a spoiler header:
Many thanks to our friends at Amazon Prime Video for being able to check this film out.
The Map Of Tiny Perfect Things is now on Amazon Prime Video, but isn’t yet available to pre-order on Blu-ray or DVD.
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 99 minutes
Release date: February 12th 2021
Studio: Amazon Prime Video
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Rating: 7.5/10
Director: Ian Samuels
Producers: Ashley Fox, Akiva Goldsman, Gregory Lessans, Aaron Ryder
Screenplay & short story: Lev Grossman
Music: Tom Bromley
Cast:
Margaret: Kathryn Newton
Mark: Kyle Allen
Henry: Jermaine Harris
Phoebe: Anna Mikami
Daniel (Mark’s father): Josh Hamilton
Emma: Cleo Fraser
Mr. Pepper: Al Madrigal
Greta (Margaret’s mother): Jorja Fox
Skate Rat Girl: Mia Lovell
Lottery Winner at Diner: Teance Blackburn
Jared: Forrest Funk
Phoebe’s Friend: Anne Lois Bullington
Chewbarka: Lucy The Terrier
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.