Happy death day [A review]

Today is her birthday and her death day. Tree must make a choice to stick to life, otherwise, she would never be able to stop the circles of her life-death experiences.

Christopher B Landon’s “Happy Death Day” relates the many life-and-death experiences of Tree Gelbman who goes through several time loops wherein she is being killed. Each time she is killed, she wakes up in her friend’s bed. Tree would do anything to stop the loops but she won’t be able to do that until she is able to kill her killer before the killer kills her. Who is the killer? Will Tree ever be able to find her killer and wreak vengeance on him or her?

The movie stars Jessica Rothe and Israel Broussard who expertly bring their characters to life so that the audience can enjoy the thrills and frills that characterize the movie. It’s easy to flow with Rothe because she shows fear and courage at the appropriate instances. Rothe naturally emotes without making her roles look superfluous or unduly exaggerated.

“Happy Death Day” fuses comedy and horror in the most exciting way. Horror and comedy couldn’t have been better presented on the screen. Tree gets used to her reliving her death and responds bravely and funnily with a careful modification of her character.

Bear McCreary handles the music with such dexterity that shows a touch of professionalism as he blends the scenes with relevant music. The birthday song keys in well into the scenes where Tree is expected to be celebrating her birthday. Tree’s ringtone is a weird birthday song. It’s the song that wakes her up from a loop on her birthday.

Toby Oliver, the cinematographer deftly moves the camera in ways that could get the audience curious and heighten the suspense. He skillfully conceals the identity of the true murderer until it’s the right time to reveal it. The shots are acceptable and the framing is efficient.

“Happy Death Day” humorously toys with the ideas of time, life and death; it does so with a touch of class and technical know-how in movie production.  Moving through the same experiences with the power to alter the experiences is what many of us would crave.

It’s like a past that keeps coming back to us while we have the power to change many things in it. The film could be described as everyone’s fantasy on the screen. Without any aorta of doubt, this movie is an enthralling filmic experience.

Written by Omidire Idowu

Omidire, Idowu Joshua is a proficient editor, proofreader, and literary agent. He is a profound movie aficionado.