Happy Death Day
Getting killed is getting tedious for Tree (Jessica Rothe) in this Groundhog Day/slasher movie mashup.
A hilarious take on the final girl trope elevates this slasher flick.
Tree Gelbman (Jessica Rothe) is sick of getting murdered.
And to add insult to mortal injury, whenever she dies, the day resets and she has to do it all over again. Each time, Tree tries to avoid her grizzly end, and each time, a person in a Baby mask finds her and kills her.
Honestly, it’s a little annoying.
Tree’s only hope is her own ability to learn from her mistakes and geeky Carter (Israel Broussard), who’s room she wakes up in every time her day resets. There’s only one problem: Plenty of people want her dead. Tree is a nasty sorority sister, an absent daughter, and just genuinely rude to about everyone she meets.
The result? The list of suspects is pretty long.
Can Tree break the cycle? Or is she doomed to die for the rest of her life?
A mashup of classic horror tropes and Groundhog Day, Happy Death Day is a fantastic watch for both horror aficionados and those who don’t like a lot of gore. Director Christopher Landon has a deft touch as he deconstructs the slasher genre with humor. Landon makes sure that the beats of a horror movie are there — jump scares and tense chases pop up throughout the movie — but peppers them with something we rarely get in slasher fare, character development and laughs.
Landon’s biggest asset in telling this story is Rothe’s natural screen presence. Tree is initially an extremely unlikeable protagonist. She’s self-absorbed, cruel, and dismissive to everyone around her. She’s essentially the kill at the beginning of most slasher movies, the one the audiences cheer for, the one who “had it coming”.
But something shifts as Tree starts investigating her own murder. She starts realizing she’s hurt a lot of people. That she’s allowed her pain to hurt others. And as she changes, her focus shifts. Now, not only is her goal survival, it’s helping others she’s encountered throughout the day.
Yes, I know that’s the same beat as Groundhog Day, but Bill Murray used the power to get laid.
Rothe is such a game performer that Tree’s transformation seems natural, and the audience roots for her as she grows. She transforms from a hilarious target to a kickass final girl. Each time she encounters the killer, she gets a little smarter and a little more determined.
Paired with Landon’s amusing ability to deconstruct two genres at once — slasher and high-concept comedy — Rothe is a nearly unstoppable force.
This flick is a great way to kick off the Halloween month because it’s light enough for those who don’t marathon stream Shudder in their free time and smart enough to keep horror fans laughing at references. It also wouldn’t be a terrible scary movie to show a kiddo who’s just starting their horror journey (save Hereditary for when you have a therapist on hand).
Verdict: A crowd-pleasing horror-comedy that’s a lot smarter than it’s given credit for.
Happy Death Day is PG-13 and available via the Xumo app or for rent/purchase on Prime.
