By Jeffrey M. Anderson , based on child development research. How do we rate?
Slasher sequel held together by strong characters, themes.
Parents need to know that Happy Death Day 2U is the horror-comedy sequel to Happy Death Day, about a serial killer and a time loop. Slasher movie-style violence includes killings, stabbing, shooting, and some blood (dribbles and spurts). The main character dies via suicide several times with no…
A couple uses of "f--k," plus several uses of "s--t," "ass," "a--hole," "d--k,"
Violence & ScarinessSerial killer-related violence, with stabbings, shootings, blood (minor dribblin
Sex, Romance & NudityCollege students kiss passionately and think about sex. Female characters in cle
Drinking, Drugs & SmokingReferences carried over from first film about Tree being "so wasted" and hung ov
Products & Purchases Not presentPromotes value of learning kindness and selflessness, of doing the right thing o
Positive Role ModelsTree is still a troubled character who's quite fallible in many ways, but she ev
A couple uses of "f--k," plus several uses of "s--t," "ass," "a--hole," "d--k," "bitch," "douche bag," "boner," "damn," "hell," "oh my God." Middle-finger gestures.
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Serial killer-related violence, with stabbings, shootings, blood (minor dribbling, spraying, etc.). Character repeatedly dies via suicide (though nothing is at stake, since she's always resurrected): She crashes a car into a power plant, jumps out of a plane, drops a hair dryer into a bathtub, falls from a building, dives into a wood-chipper, etc. Chasing, stalking, screaming. Shouting and struggling.
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College students kiss passionately and think about sex. Female characters in cleavage-revealing outfit/skimpy underwear. Woman caught with naked man (wearing a towel) in her room; spoken line about a "three-way." Dialogue about a married man having an affair.
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References carried over from first film about Tree being "so wasted" and hung over the morning of her birthday, but nothing is shown.
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Tree is still a troubled character who's quite fallible in many ways, but she eventually learns lessons about kindness, selflessness and tries to set things right/do the right thing (though at very end, she attempts something wicked once again).
Parents need to know that Happy Death Day 2U is the horror-comedy sequel to Happy Death Day, about a serial killer and a time loop. Slasher movie-style violence includes killings, stabbing, shooting, and some blood (dribbles and spurts). The main character dies via suicide several times with no consequences, as she's always resurrected. Characters are chased and stalked, and there's screaming and struggling. Women wear cleavage-revealing outfits and skimpy underwear, and college students kiss passionately. A naked man wearing a towel is caught in a woman's dorm room (he has a line about a three-way). Language includes a couple uses of "f--k," plus "s--t," "bitch," "ass," and more. There's a reference to a college girl being "wasted" and hung over, but nothing is shown. The storytelling is rather scattered, but it's still emotionally centered and quite entertaining for teens and up. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails.
Happy Death Day 2U
Movie Review
Happy Death Day 2U
Official trailer
Based on 16 parent reviews
Katherine R. Parent of 10, 14, 18+, 18+, 18+ and 5-year-old June 27, 2024I I’m 12 and this movie is great but not as good as the first movie no spoilers for either of the movies just that they are great.
In HAPPY DEATH DAY 2U, Tree (Jessica Rothe) has recently broken out of the time loop from Happy Death Day and is enjoying her new present. She's together with Carter (Israel Broussard) but still missing her mom. And unfortunately, Carter's roommate, Ryan (Phi Vu), seems to have entered his own time loop. The reason soon becomes clear: It's connected to Ryan's science experiment, a powerful quantum reactor, which also caused Tree's original loop. Desperate, Ryan fires up the machine again, and Tree finds herself back on her birthday. Only this time, things aren't exactly the same, and even the Babyface killer is different. This time loop appears to be in a different dimension. Tree must decide where her true heart lies and figure out how to stop the killer once again, all while helping Ryan find the right algorithm to get her back home.
This sequel has fewer slasher-movie elements than the original and wanders all over the place, even into bad slapstick. But Rothe's extremely strong performance and the movie's vivid emotional center carry it through. Christopher Landon directs again and takes over the screenwriting this time, too; he seems to adopt the "what happens next?" method of storytelling, throwing Tree into one tough spot after another, with little regard to science or logic. It sometimes gets to be a little much, especially during an "algorithm memorizing" montage and a weird slapstick sequence in which Tree's sorority sister (Rachel Matthews) poses as a blind French woman to distract the dean (Steve Zissis) and steal his keys.
But, happily, Rothe tends to hold things together. She's more Meryl Streep than scream queen, amazingly aware of her range of emotions and possessing the skill to pull them off, especially in the uncharted territory of a time loop. Her scenes with her newly resurrected mother (remember, it's another dimension) are particularly moving. Happy Death Day 2U (great title) is no longer a real horror film, though it contains a few well-done stalker-y scenes; now it's more about relationships and humor than it is about being scared of a masked killer. And it's far from a cheap sequel; it deepens the themes of the first film. Its ultimate messages are about kindness, being unselfish, and taking a leap of faith into the future rather than hanging on to the past.
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