Happy Death Day (4 Stars)

I watched this film in the cinema today. "Happy Death Day" is the original English title, but in Germany it's shortened to two words as "Happy Deathday". I consider that an improvement.

Theresa Gelbman, nicknamed Tree, is a university student. On her birthday she wakes up in the bed of Carter, a male student she's never met before. The day is uneventful, but in the evening she's followed by a man in a mask who stabs her to death.

The end? No. She wakes up in Carter's bedroom. It's the morning of her birthday again. The events happen exactly the same way, but in the evening she avoids the place where she was stabbed. That's no help. The masked man finds her in the new place, and she's killed again. And the day starts again.

Tree tries again and again to live through the day without dying, but whatever she does and wherever she goes she's killed. Tree is convinced that if she manages to avoid being killed she will escape the time loop and move on to the next day.

Does the film remind you of "Groundhog Day"? Of course it does, and the film itself admits the connection. When Tree tells Carter what's happening to her he replies, "That sounds just like a film called Groundhog Day with Bill Murray". I don't think that "Happy Death Day" has the same spiritual depth as "Groundhog Day", but it's just as much fun to watch.