Movie · 2017 · Comedy, Horror, Mystery · 1h 37m · PG-13 · English
Curator score: 2.2/10 (810.2K ratings)
Get up. Live your day. Get killed. Again.
Overview
Caught in a bizarre and terrifying time warp, college student Tree finds herself repeatedly reliving the day of her murder, ultimately realizing that she must identify the killer and the reason for her death before her chances of survival run out.
Ratings
Curator score: 2.2/10
IMDb: 6.6/10
Letterboxd: 3.00/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 71%
Metacritic: 58
TMDB: 6.7/10
Director
Christopher Landon
Production
Vesuvius Productions, Blumhouse Productions, Digital Riot Media, Universal Pictures
Cast
Jessica Rothe, Israel Broussard, Charles Aitken, Ruby Modine, Blaine Kern III, Rachel Matthews, Billy Slaughter, Caleb Spillyards, Jimmy Gonzáles, Jason Bayle, Rob Mello, Phi Vu, Laura Clifton, Cariella Smith, Tran Tran, Dane Rhodes, Tenea Intriago, Missy Yager, Rachel Black, Donna DuPlantier
Where to watch
Max
Curator Review
Verdict
A breezy, high-concept slasher-comedy that turns a familiar time-loop premise into a surprisingly effective crowd-pleaser. It’s more playful than brutal, but the mystery structure, brisk pacing, and strong lead performance make it easy to recommend for viewers who want horror with a sense of fun.
Best for
fans of horror-comedy
viewers who like time-loop stories
people who prefer lighter, less graphic slashers
audiences looking for a fast, energetic genre movie
Skip if
you want genuinely intense or disturbing horror
you dislike self-aware teen/college horror
you need a deeply original mystery
you’re allergic to campy genre premises
Overview
Happy Death Day works because it understands the appeal of a slasher is not just the kills, but the game. The time-loop setup gives the movie a clean engine: each reset lets the story tighten its mystery, sharpen the jokes, and make Tree’s arc feel earned rather than decorative. It’s a smart piece of studio genre filmmaking that knows exactly how much seriousness to give its premise.
Worth noting
Jessica Rothe carries the film with a performance that starts prickly and ends genuinely winning. The movie leans into campus-movie shorthand and a few broad comic beats, but it keeps moving, and that momentum covers a lot of rough edges. The horror is relatively restrained, which makes it more accessible than most slashers without draining the tension.
Bottom line
What lingers most is the tone: cheeky, propulsive, and just self-aware enough to feel modern without becoming smug. It’s not a reinvention of horror, but it is an unusually efficient one, and it lands as the kind of genre movie that can win over both casual viewers and people who usually don’t like slashers.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Kait (3★) · 7479 likes
I can’t believe a blonde straight girl named tree singlehandedly ended homophobia
pd187 (4★) · 4487 likes
anyone saying this wasnt scary cuz its "essentially bloodless" cant imagine waking up hungover again & again with an audio implant.
emily · 3317 likes
thanks for clapping when the guy confirmed he did not have sex with her because she was drunk, nyu audience, it was really necessary, nyu audience, clapping in a theater for a guy doing the bare minimum, nyu audience
Lucy (4★) · 3067 likes
this was so much fun, my depression has VANISHED
Jay (2★) · 2973 likes
missed opportunity to not utilise so you just gonna kill me on my birthday at my birthday party on my birthday with a birthday knife