Happy Death Day was a genuine surprise hit for me in 2017. It seemed to come out of nowhere, and I hadn’t seen a horror movie that was as fresh as it was in a while. For starters, it seemed to go for a much different tone than we see in a lot of horror movies. It was never really setting out to scare you, but rather it was just meant to be a really fun thrill ride. However, the big draw to it was the concept. It took Groundhog Day and put it into the horror movie genre, having the film’s protagonist Tree reliving the same day over and over, and continuing to get killed at the end of every day until she figured out who her killer was. I found it to be such a neat idea, and so I got really excited for the sequel.

The problem with a Groundhog Day-style movie, though, is that Groundhog Day has never had a sequel. So, now that Tree has broken the repeating day loop, where is there to go now? The result is something that’s going to either make you happy or upset, depending on what you liked most about Happy Death Day. See, while the first movie really wasn’t all that scary at all, Happy Death Day 2U abandons the scares even further. It actually moves into a more sci-fi territory, more fully embracing its ridiculous concept. In this movie, Tree discovers the reason why she was stuck in a time loop, and it has to do with a science experiment gone wrong. It turns out that the story isn’t done yet, though, as trouble continues and Tree winds up finding herself reliving the same day yet again…but this time she’s in a parallel universe where her life is much different.

So, yeah, it’s like I said, how much you’re going to like Happy Death Day 2U depends on what it is you liked about the first movie. If you were only into it for the horror aspect (which, I’m not sure why you would be since the movie really didn’t lean into it that much), then you might be disappointed with Happy Death Day 2U, as the movie is really only about 10-20% horror this time around. Instead, it embraces its comedic value and sci-fi concept much more heavily. For me, this was what I liked most about the first movie, and so I actually found Happy Death Day 2U to be at least as good as the first movie, if not slightly better.

Just like how the first movie was self-aware that it was similar to Groundhog Day (even throwing in a reference to the movie), Happy Death Day 2U is equally self-aware, referencing the fact that its plot is similar to something like Back to the Future II. The movie literally is reliving the events of the first movie yet again, but it provides clever twists on the story that make it feel like a really unique experience.

I’m genuinely a big fan of these movies now, and so I have enough faith in them that I’d absolutely be down for a third movie (which there might be, if the movie’s post-credits scene is any indication). I just feel like a lot of horror movies feel like they need to take themselves really seriously nowadays, and so I love that the Happy Death Day movies have embraced more of a campy and ridiculous concept. It’s a breath of fresh air, and I’m just happy that Happy Death Day 2U continued this fresh experience. I had such a fun time watching it, and there were times where I just couldn’t help but laugh at what I was seeing onscreen. This is a great sequel, and if I’m given enough time to let it sink in, it’s possible that I might even say that it’s better than the first movie. If not, it’s pretty damn close.

4/5