Happy Death Day

The Groundhog Day formula gets a gruesomely funny reworking in a film in which a college student (Jessica Rothe) is murdered on her birthday, over and over again. She must use the resetting of the day to find out who is killing her, and why. The novelty of the premise quickly wears off, but while it's never more than a bog-standard slasher film, the film's knowing humour prevents it from becoming boring. Many of the laughs come from the fact that Rothe is not a virginal horror heroine - in fact, she soon learns that there are a number of reasons why people might want to kill her. Her flaws become endearing, particularly when she's paired with Carter (Israel Broussard), the boy she repeatedly wakes up with and the only one who believes her. Although it's gleefully superficial, Happy Death Day never removes its tongue from its cheek, and is all the better for it.