Happiness for Beginners Parent Guide

Emotionally paralyzed by her recent divorce, Helen (Ellie Kemper) signs up for a grueling backpacking trip along the Appalachian Trail. She has three goals: to forge a deeper connection to nature, to “rise from her ashes like a phoenix”, and to earn an outdoors certificate. What she doesn’t expect is to make friends with the assorted oddballs in the group, reassess her relationship with her brother (Alexander Koch), and reconnect with her brother’s handsome best friend, Jake (Luke Grimes).

Helen’s adventures might give her more than she expects but the same can’t be said for the movie’s audience. This trite, charmless production is only enlivened by the beautiful autumn woods of its Connecticut setting. It’s true that most romantic comedies follow a familiar formula – boy meets girl, boy and girl face some kind of obstacle, boy and girl get together – but good rom-coms manage to inject some chemistry and humor into the story. Not this one. The script is so flat it feels like it was written by ChatGPT and the acting matches it. This obviously isn’t an A-list cast, but they are so exceptionally wooden that I spent part of the movie wondering if Netflix is pioneering some kind of AI manipulation of its actors’ images. Seriously, this is a lifeless film that offers no emotional rewards in exchange for 100 irreplaceable minutes of your life. I already regret that I can’t get this time back.

Production woes aside, there’s nothing in this flick that you haven’t seen anywhere else. The hiking group is composed of stereotypes: the gay wannabe actor, the arrogant Wall Street trader, the ditzy blonde who’s smarter than she looks, the nerdy trail leader who sublimates his insecurities by bullying the hikers. Even the plot twist – unusual though it is – lacks emotional weight (and is predictable for moviegoers with a medical background). Lacking interesting characters or a compelling storyline, this film can’t maintain any narrative tension or interest from audiences.

On the bright side, content is relatively minor with no interpersonal violence or sexual content. There’s some minor social drinking, a bit of profanity, and some kissing. It’s basically harmless but it’s also dull and there’s no saving a movie that doesn’t have a story to tell. I would suggest that the screenwriters of “Happiness for Beginners” take a freshman level creative writing class and hone their skills. Maybe then they’ll come up with something worth watching.