That’s not to say that All Roads to Pearla is perfect. A sub-plot involving the wrestling coach feels incidental, it does tie certain events in the film together but only late into the third act where it doesn’t really matter in the face of Brandon and Pearla’s plight. Without revealing the plot, the characters who are hellbent on revenge for the beating of Cowboy Loy are very shallow, again introduced late into the film with a whole backstory that is…

Maybe it’s due to the crushing reality of everything else going on in the world, but the presence of a film like Palm Springs in the rather bleak offering of current releases feels particularly affecting right now. It has a sense of optimism that isn’t suffocating, a take on romance that acknowledges the darker side of human nature without sliding even closely into melodrama. An overdose of hopefulness during “these uncertain times” just becomes dishonest, whereas art that both recognises…