Whenever we think of a time loop film, we will always think of "Groundhog Day" (1993). Whenever we think of a murderer with a comical mask, we will always think of "Scream" (1996). When I first saw the trailer of this film, it was clear that this Christopher B. Landon film was inspired by those two 1990s favorites, so this should be a lot of fun to watch.
It was September 18, Monday, Tree's birthday. That day, a hungover Tree woke up in the dorm room of nerdy boy Carter. Later that night, she was attacked and murdered by a killer wearing a funny mask of their college mascot. Then she woke up again in Carter's room and relived the same day over only to die again at the hands of the same masked murderer. With each loop she goes through, Tree eliminates her suspects one by one until she thought she's got it all figured out.
The likability of this whole film depended on the winsome portrayal of Tree by Jessica Rothe. There was something very charming about her mean girl whose cursed repeated reliving of her birthday (and death day) had humbled her down. Her bitchy Tree was played with tongue fully in cheek. With every day relived, she managed to project a different personality that kept the proceedings interesting. But in that sequence of her penultimate reincarnation, she was positively radiant.
The supporting actors played basically one-dimensional caricatures of typical characters encountered in a college. They probably had a lot of fun repeating their lines over and over for each different daily scenario. Israel Broussard was the shy and helpful boy-next-door Carter Davis. Ruby Modine was the seemingly thoughtful and patient roommate and nurse Lori Spengler. Rachel Matthews was hilariously over-the-top as sorority head honcho Danielle Bouseman. Charles Aitken was Tree's professor crush Dr. Gregory Butler. Caleb Spillyards was the rejected beau Tim Bauer.
The horror situations were all familiar tropes we've seen many times in different slasher films before. Again there were crazy stupid decisions made by the characters to make themselves sitting-duck targets for the killer. The serial killer character was a bit of a stretch which probably should have been left off. In any case though, a spirit of fun pervaded the whole film despite the gory goings-on, making this a diverting horror offering friends can enjoy watching together. 7/10.
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