Groundhog Day has reached its 30th birthday – which is still three years and change short of the 33 years, 350 days it was once estimated Bill Murray’s waspish weatherman spent stuck in a time loop in the film. Viewed simply as a quirky comedy on its release, the film has since seen its reputation transform. And not only because “Groundhog Day” has become shorthand for the drudgery of any endlessly repeating scenario. In 2023, its influence and popularity are greater than ever.
Some people got it right away. David Lynch was an early admirer while Quentin Tarantino, in a 1994 interview to promote Pulp Fiction, gushed: “Groundhog Day is one of my favourite movies of last year, if not my favourite.” And the number of films which copy its structure has mounted up, from a sci-fi Groundhog Day on a train (Source Code), Groundhog Day as a horror (Happy Death Day), Groundhog Day with Tom Cruise (Edge of Tomorrow), Groundhog Day but he’s naked (the predictably awful Naked). Meanwhile the time-loop romcom has become a popular genre in itself.
