Review of Happy Death Day (2017) by Gbg_Jason — 17 Jan 2018

For most people, your birthday is a happy event that is spent with friends and family. But what if you were stuck in a never ending loop, where you meet your end only to wake up and start the day again? That’s the premise of the recent Happy Death Day, which is similar to a dark version of Bill Murray’s Groundhog Day and delivers on many levels.

The film begins with a very hungover Tree, played by Jessica Rothe (La La Land, Valley Girl) who wakes up in the dorm room of Carter, played by Israel Broussard (The Bling Ring, Extinction). After a short exchange, she sets off on her walk of shame, trying to piece together the events of the night before. After seeing how she treats some of the supporting characters, we see that Tree is not up for winning any humanitarian awards. She’s not only prone to waking up in strange guys’ beds, but she is rude, makes out with friend’s boyfriends, blows off potential suitors, partakes in an affair with one of her teachers, and treats her sorority sisters like garbage. That being said, the list of people who’d like to kill her would not fit on a sticky note and leaves the viewer guessing. I haven’t been this stumped by who the killer was since the original Scream.

After setting off for a party, she comes face to face with our masked killer for the first time, who is dressed as a cherub in a dark hooded sweat shirt. He quickly ends her life prompting her to wake up at the beginning of the day all over again. The killer is not overly original, as a similar mask was used in the previously released Valentine movie. After a few failed attempts at circumventing her death, she becomes determined to find her killer and break this vicious cycle.

The mystery of who the killer is and how the film goes about slowly leaving hints and misdirecting the viewer is where most of the fun is found, as this suffers from a lack of violence due to the PG-13 rating. While there are some creative kills that do change depending on how Tree decides to proceed with the day, most are done off-screen, leaving the gory details to the viewer’s imagination. Tree’s reactions are often comical and prevent the film from becoming stale, despite a number of the same scenes taking place over and over again with minor variances.

While the killer’s identity is revealed before the credits roll, the reason Tree is stuck in the never ending loop is never explained, which leaves a large plot hole. Since this is a horror film and the suspension of disbelief is in full effect, this shouldn’t stop you from checking out what is sure to be a cult classic.