happy death day 2u

DIRECTOR: Christopher Landon (scouts guide to the zombie apocalypse, happy death day)
STARRING: jessica rothe, israel broussard, rubie modine, and suraj sharma

REVIEWER: purdie jenkins

★★★★

Collegian Tree Gelbman wakes up in horror to learn that she's stuck in a parallel universe. Her boyfriend Carter is now with someone else, and her friends and fellow students seem to be completely different versions of themselves. When Tree discovers that Carter's roommate has been altering time, she finds herself once again the target of a masked killer. When the psychopath starts to go after her inner circle, Tree soon realizes that she must die over and over again to save everyone.

Happy Death Day 2U is a sequel which knows what the audience is there for. Following on from the 2017 film, which is similar to Groundhog Day but with more murder and sorority girls. I would consider it required watching for this sequel, there are plenty of references to the original along with the cast of characters. Although some new faces to appear and we get to delve deeper with some minor characters.

Once again, Tree is caught up in time loop with another baby mask wearing, knife wielding murderer. There is enough difference from the first to keep your interest alive, we aren’t repeating that same starting sequence another eleven times. Besides, Tree has grown as a character and isn’t that bitchy damsel in distress, she can take care of herself. Jessica Rothe owns this role, her electric energy she brings is the life of the film, we have a new slasher scream queen to keep an eye on!

Similar to the original as well, Happy Death Day 2U, continues in that ‘pretending to be a slasher’ but is actually more of a comedy. While there are some scares, there are plenty more laughs. The one-liners are fast paced and Rothe has great comedic timing. There is also fun had with some stereotypical characters. That being said, there are some more touching scenes with Tree as her character is developed even further and some moral questions are laid down.

Blumhouse are coming into their own as low-budget original film production company (with the likes of The Purge, Get Out and Upgrade). There is a fun style with the films that also has a effective storytelling voice that comes with Blumhouse and Happy Death Day 2U sits comfortably under that umbrella.

Happy Death Day 2U is a fun film to have a quick thrill and giggle at.

★★★★

Happy Death Day 2U is available on DVD, Blu-ray, and digital from all good disc and digital retailers.