Happy Death Day Parent Guide

She wakes up in a guy’s dorm room. She can’t recall how she got there. Pulling on her pants and sequined tank top, Tree (Jessica Rothe) says goodbye to Carter (Israel Broussard)—although she can’t quite recall his name—and makes a hasty retreat across campus, passing the typical odd assortment of college students. Walking through the door of her sorority, she’s given a cold greeting by the house mother Danielle (Rachel Matthews). Upstairs she is met by her roommate Lori (Ruby Modine), who produces a cupcake with a candle as a token offering to try and build a friendship between them.

Yes, today is Tree’s birthday, and the narcissistic young woman does her best to ensure the remainder of the day revolves around her. A sorority house meeting and plans for a party provide her with plenty of “drama” opportunities. Finally, she heads out for the evening’s festivities, walking alone in the dark and wearing a skimpy white dress. It’s a moment that screams, “something bad is about to happen”. And it does.

Murdered by a person dressed in black whose face is covered by a bizarre baby-face mask (a strange choice that also represents the school’s football team), Tree’s horrifying end is brief. Then in a moment she awakes, back in Carter’s room, and back at the start of her birthday. It seems this is a day she will live again, and again, and again.

If you are thinking this plot sounds like Groundhog Day, you’re right. But this movie comes with way more violence and a lot less humor. Somewhat like Bill Murray’s weatherman character, Happy Death Day’s replays allow our self-centered protagonist to have many insightful chances to reconsider her attitude toward others. Yet, unlike the established classic, these positive changes aren’t what releases Tree from her curse. Her hope for escaping the daily grind lies in her ability to uncover the murderer’s identity. And the process of eliminating the suspects provides ample opportunities for Tree, and the audience, to relive her horrible demise over, and over, and over.

Curiously, no matter how she tries to change things up, the only results that differ is how she meets her fateful end—by stabbings, strangulation, an explosion and, after a friend is inadvertently killed instead, a self-induced death by hanging. These brutal confrontations are depicted with some blood effects and details.

Adding to the reasons to reconsider this film as a choice for teen viewing is Tree’s reputation for using her womanly ways to get what she wants from men, including a married professor. Although more implied than shown, there are a couple of passionate moments seen on-screen. As well, a female is seen naked in public (partially seen from the rear), a man is caught masturbating while looking at other men on his computer (no explicit detail is shown) and a woman is seen in underwear multiple times. Also featured are infrequent profanities, a sexual expletive, a crude finger gesture, crude anatomical terms and scatological slang.

Admittedly, this twist on a well-established movie template works better than expected and will likely keep the audience engaged because it knows when to quit before the “wake up, insult everyone, get murdered” cycle gets too tedious. Still, Tree’s branching out to become more kind and caring may not make the movie’s violent content and casual sexual attitudes something that’s worth dying to see.

About author

Rod Gustafson

Rod Gustafson has worked in various media industries since 1977. He founded Parent Previews in 1993, and today continues to write and broadcast the reviews in newspapers, on radio and (of course) on the Internet. His efforts also include writing and researching media in all its forms and observing how it effects society and culture. He and his wife Donna have four children.