I make a point to watch Groundhog Day on the titular holiday, and I bet I’m not alone. This year, accentuate your viewing experience with the knowledge that Bill Murray was trying to level up all along.

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The wiki tvtropes.org features a persuasive argument for Groundhog Day as a videogame. The evidence, forthwith:

The player could end the loop at any time. He just wants to get the “Good ending“, and keeps reloading the game at a save point (or possibly using save states). Like any player, he remembers his mistakes from last time and can try something different this time. Phil isn’t in a timeloop, it’s just the in-game explanation for why he can live the same day over and over and remember all previous iterations. The entire story is a massive case of Save Scumming.

The conceit makes sense of Phil’s onslaught of self-death midway through the film, too. Dude was just creatively rage-quitting.

This also explains the sudden burst of suicide. The player was probably frustrated by how hard the game was proving and engaged in a little therapeutic cruelty by ramming their character into every hazard they could think of.

Happy Groundhog Day [tomorrow], one and all.