Happy Death Day 2U

Cert: 15A; Now showing

Mixing slasher horror, college romance and zany comedy, 2017’s Happy Death Day was something of a surprise hit, falling just the right side of critical favour while taking millions of dollars from its hordes of young viewers.

With juvenile abandon, it saw a gutsy college babe (Jessica Rothe) endure her final day on earth on loop in Groundhog Day style. The difference was that a masked killer is her executioner each time, and as she gets closer and closer to unveiling the stabber, she also sorts out some personal jinks en route.

Watching this equally sassy and invigorated sequel play out, it becomes difficult to entirely justify its existence given its plot seems to be just another spin on events in the first film. As if the parts had just been reassembled to see what it would look like.

Tree (Rothe) is once again dying-waking-repeat and trying to solve the overarching riddle at the same time.

This time around, she learns that fellow students Carter (Israel Broussard) and Ryan (Phi Vu) are playing with time-loop technology that has caused the whole rumpus in the first place. Not only is the killer different in this loop, however, but other details of Tree’s personal affairs are starkly altered. Christopher Landon’s sequel is not guilty of lacking gusto, guffaws, or a spirited and comically spry leading lady (Rothe’s ensemble co-stars deserve a mention too). It’s just that it feels like we were through all this 18 months ago with the much better original.