Many of us probably have a day we wish we could do over again. A chance to correct a mistake or do something we wished we’d done when we’d had the opportunity.
Bayfield University student Tree Gelbman has been given that chance: The only problem is she didn’t get to pick the day, which happens to be her birthday and death day all rolled into one.
When she first wakes up on October 18 in nerdy nice guy Carter’s dorm room, she has a wicked hangover and she heads back to her sorority. As she interacts with people throughout the day you realize that Tree is not a very nice person. Then as evening rolls around she meets her first death; when she encounters a figure dressed in black and wearing the school mascot’s Bayfield Baby mask she thinks it’s just a prank. Just as beastly Babyface is about to plunge the knife in, Tree suddenly sits up in the same bed she started the day in.
(If you are squeamish: The interesting thing about this film is it doesn’t really show detailed gore, but they imply enough that your brain takes over. It has a PG-13 rating.)
When Tree awakens again on October 18 she assumes it was all just a very bad dream. But things seem to be strangely repeating themselves, and she tries to shake it off as just having had too much to drink. (Been there done that.) That evening when she finds herself in the same place as she was in her nightmare, she decides to change her route. But the killer Babyface still finds her. By the time her third and fourth October 18ths happen it is starting to sink in that she is caught in some kind of horrific repetition of time.
She opens up to Carter who Tree hopes will believe her. He is at least willing to entertain the thought that Tree is trapped in a terrifying time loop. But of course he won’t remember their conversation tomorrow when her fifth October 18th occurs. Still, he does offer Tree advice that might help her find her way out of this interminable insanity.
You have an unlimited amount of lives so you have unlimited opportunities to solve your own murder.
Tree, of course, does not find this comforting as it means getting murdered over and over again.
So I’m just supposed to keep dying until I figure out who my killer is?
But it is not like she has any other options.
In her search to find clues about who might want her dead Tree starts to see how awful she was to those around her. Living the same day repeatedly has opened her eyes to who she really is. Can fighting the monster within help defeat the monster on the outside? It may be the only way for Tree to see October 19.
For myself and Rihanna, we’re friends with our monsters.
If you enjoyed this time twisting slasher flick the sequel is pretty good, Happy Death Day 2U. It’s available on Netflix, and to rent for $3.99 in the usual places.
Happy Death Day stars Jessica Rothe, Israel Broussard, Rachel Lynn Matthews, Ruby Modine, Phi Vu, and Charles Aitken. Directed by Christopher Landon.
Happy Death Day is available with subscription on Peacock, Hulu, and HBO Max. $3.99 in the usual places.
To make requests and see the movie lists and schedules, go to WonkMovie.
The animated short is The Dream Of A Ridiculous Man directed by Aleksandr Petrov, based on a story by Fyodor M. Dostoyevsky.
Our next Movie Night selection is Anna And The Apocalypse, available for free on YouTube; with subscription on AMC+ and Shudder; free with ads on Tubi and Pluto; free with library card on Kanopy in certain locations; $3.99 in the usual places.
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BONUS TRIVIA:
The screenplay writer Scott Lobdell said he wanted to play with the tropes of the slasher genre, as according to him "every slasher film opens up with the mean girl getting killed and the good girl living till the end. And he thought, 'How can I make the mean girl and the good girl the same person?'"
BONUS TRIVIA:
The film, which is set in New Orleans (and was filmed on the campus of Loyola University New Orleans), has the killer wearing a mask which is nearly identical to "King Cake Baby", the official mascot of the New Orleans Pelicans basketball team. Johnson Berticelli, the mascot's creator, sued Universal Pictures and Blumhouse for copyright infringement, demanding half of the movie's profits. The lawsuit was settled in 2021.