History Film / HappyDeathDay

* JerkToNiceGuyPlot: Tree starts the film as an AlphaBitch, and while there are sympathetic reasons behind her persona. they don't alter the fact that she is bitchy towards pretty much everyone. Over the course of the film, she slowly becomes a genuinely better person.

* YouHaveGotToBeKiddingMe: Tree's eventually [[DisappointedByTheMotive reaction]] to [[EvilIsPetty why]] [[DisproportionateRetribution she is being murdered]].

* TheGuardsMustBeCrazy: [[spoiler:The guard at Tombs' door is killed while checking on him because Lori unshackled him. In real life, this would have been more difficult because guards are kept inside the room as well.]].

* HardDrinkingPartyGirl: Tree opens the day hungover, in a dorm room of a boy she doesn't klnow, after a night getting wasted.

** For much of the film, Carter exists mostly to suffer at the start of each new loop- Tree always wakes up in his room and grows increasingly more unstable each time, causing him a lot of comedic problems like smacking his head into his desk or having to watch her strip down.
** Finally Danielle, exclusively from Tree. Tree is in the middle of swiping the guy she likes from her, lies to her via text about doing so, publicly humiliates her with a milkshake in the GoldenPath loop and points out she's a tool (direct quote) to a packed diner during her tv interview at the end. Just for good measure Tree kills her once as well... which is an honour normally reserved for self-defense purposes. It's Danielle, though, so [[HateSink who cares?]]

** All of the brunettes on the other hand seem to be pretty dim. Tim is too naive to understand that their respective behaviours are problematic, [[spoiler: Lori has a pretty stupid reason for all the things she does]] and Danielle seems to have an IQ of about 4. Carter's certainly capable of thinking though.

* FocusGroupEnding: [[https://www.cinemablend.com/news/1714429/happy-death-day-shot-an-original-ending-that-made-test-audiences-furious In test screenings]], the ending had [[spoiler:Tree murdered again - by Dr Butler's wife]]. Test audiences hated it, so the director decided to just put the happier one that's in the final cut.

* WhatDidIDoLastNight: In the first loop, Lori tells Tree what she (Tree) did the night before. Not only did she drink a lot, but also started two fights, ended up dancing on a table, kissed a guy in front of his girl (according to Lori, she shoved her tongue down Nick's throat right in front of Danielle), and vomited pretzels all over the bar. But at least she didn't sleep with Carter.

-->[[spoiler:'''Tree:''' Thanks, but I already ate it last night. ...Oh my God... ''I died in my sleep''.]]

--> '''Tree:''' [[spoiler: ''I died in my sleep last night.'']]

* YourCheatingHeart: Tree is sleeping with a married teacher. She also attempts to do this with Danielle's boyfriend Nick. [[spoiler: The killer shows up before they can get down to business, though.]]

** Finally Danielle, exclusively from Tree. Tree is in the middle of swiping her boyfriend from her, lies to her via text about doing so, publicly humiliates her with a milkshake in the GoldenPath loop and points out she's a tool (direct quote) to a packed diner during her tv interview at the end. Just for good measure Tree kills her once as well... which is an honour normally reserved for self-defense purposes. It's Danielle though... so [[HateSink who cares?]]

* MeaningfulBackgroundEvent: As Tree is having an angry text exchange with Danielle for sleeping with her boyfriend, the killer is slaughtering him.

* GrievousBottleyHarm: One of Tree's deaths happen as the killer does this with a ''bong''.

* GroundhogDayLoop: The movie has been described as this. With stabbing. It was even {{lampshaded}} at the end.

* HairOfGoldHeartofGold: Zigzagged all over the place. Tree becomes this by the end of the film, but is nothing like the trope at the start. Gregory is a blond asshole throughout, and most of the brunettes (save Carter, Lori and Tim) are jerks as well. [[spoiler: Lori is the killer in the finale, subverting it again.]]
* HardDrinkingPartyGirl: Tree opens the day hungover, in a dorm room, after a night getting wasted.

** [[spoiler:Lori Spengler is Tree Gelbman's roommate and is the one wearing the Bayview Baby mask killing her in every loop of Tree's regular timeline. Lori constantly kills anyone in the loops too who happens to be in her way and gets others killed by releasing serial killer John Toombs as a cover as well. Her motivation is nothing but petty and harsh as she is jealous of Tree's affair with Dr. Gregory Butler (who at one point is another of Lori's victims too)]].
** Dr. Gregory Butler. He's cheating on his wife, and the mother of his children, with one of his students. If that's not bad enough, he does so at work. Even worse, he works at a hospital. Most relevant employment contracts focus on "treating patients" not "ejaculating".
** [[AlphaBitch Danielle]] is a more conventional example. She isn't involved in the main plot [[spoiler:outside of serving as a RedHerring]], but spends all her screen time acting like a condescending shallow bitchy ValleyGirl towards everyone, especially Becky whom she's show fat-shaming at one point.

* HoistByHisOwnPetard: In the third loop, when Tree barricades herself in her room, she moves a chest of drawers in front of the door. This comes back to bite her when the killer turns out to have been in the room all along, and Tree is killed again.

* IAmGreatSong: "Confident" by Music/DemiLovato, which plays during the HardWorkMontage, is this for both the hero and villain of the story if you listen closely to the lyrics.

* InspirationNod: At one point, Tree has a conversation with Carter in which she mentions that she's never seen any Creator/BillMurray movies; ''Film/GroundhogDay'' is mentioned by name.

* JerkassHasAPoint: Tree says to Tim in the first loop that just because she went on one date with him doesn't mean she has to keep talking to him, especially as she didn't have a good time.

* JerkToNiceGuyPlot: Tree starts the film as an AlphaBitch and while there are sympathetic reasons behind her persona they don't alter the fact that she is bitchy towards pretty much everyone. Over the course of the film she slowly becomes a genuinely better person.

* TheLadette: In addition to drinking a lot, Tree also takes the opportunity while eating with Carter to burp and fart ''loudly''.
* LaserGuidedKarma: Danielle fat-shames Becky at the sorority lunch meeting when Becky shows up with chocolate milk, and when this happens in the GoldenPath loop, Tree stops Becky from walking away, takes her chocolate milk, and pours it over Danielle's head, causing Danielle to run off soaked and embarrassed.

* MrFanservice: Nick. Danielle sees Tim this way.

* NakedPeopleAreFunny: Tree goes {{Streaking}} during one of the loops.

* NiceGuy: Carter, to the point he didn't take advantage of a drunken Tree.
* NoBisexuals: When Tree spies on a guy she dated briefly, he is seen watching gay porn. Tree assumes he must be gay, not even considering that he might be bisexual, and the movie never calls her on this assumption. She seems to be right though judging by his reaction when Tree talks with him about it.
* NotWhatItLooksLike: First, the very start—Tree is not awakening in Carter's room for spending the night with him, he just wanted to help her wasted self and thus slept on his roommate's bed. Then, when Tree is attacked by the killer in a bed, a bystander does not stop it because he thinks it's just some kinky stuff, and also because he's drunk.

* ReallyGetsAround: At the beginning of the film, Tree is (to varying degrees) juggling four different guys and is slut-shamed by Danielle who has a bit of a reputation herself.

* ScreamingWoman: Tree wakes up screaming in terror at the start of the fourth loop, startling Carter and causing him to hit his head on his dresser.

** [[spoiler:Emily, the headphones sorority girl, at the end [[ScreamingAtSquick when Lori's body lands in front of her]].]]
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: Tree escapes from the hospital because she knows the killer will find her. It doesn't work, as while she does escape, the killer catches up to her and kills her again.

* SlasherSmile: Subverted twice. First, given that the killer where's a full face mask you can't see any expressions. Second, Tree delivers one to her attacker when the rolling blackout hits the hospitol and she turns the tables on Tombs. Tombs himself is a straight example.
* SlashersPreferBlondes: Yes. Yes they do.

* StealthHiBye: When Tree wakes up in hospital and the blackout hits, Gregory is suddenly standing behind Carter when the lights come back on, freaking Carter out.

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Tree does this ''a lot''. She educates Ryan in respecting women on two seperate days, completely destroys Gregory in the GoldenPath loop and proves her words aren't even necessary for someone as worthless as Danielle. [[spoiler: She gives a brief one to Lori, ''while Lori is trying to kill her'' at the end!]] Hell, she's so good at these she delivers one to ''herself'' when apologizing to her Dad.

* TimeLoopFatigue: Tree suffers this, especially after [[spoiler: killing Tombs, who she believes is her killer, doesn't end the loop.]] It doesn't help that she keeps her injuries from previous loops.

* UnderstandingBoyfriend: Carter, who believes Tree every time she tells him she's stuck in a time loop and helps her figure out how to get through it.

* ActionGirl: Tree slowly evolves into this after the constant loops.

* AlphaBitch: Tree's sorority is full of these, and she's one of them at first. As the sorority leader, Danielle is the biggest example.

* AssholeVictim: Tree herself before her character development.
** [[spoiler:In the penultimate loop, Tree tracks down and kills John Tombs. In the previous loop, she had also hit him with a crowbar hard enough to knock him to the ground. Unfortunately, the loop still resets, meaning in the end he survives.]]
** [[spoiler:In the final loop, when Tree realises Lori is the real killer, she force-feeds her the poisoned cupcake she had initially tried to kill Tree with, then kicks her out of the window to her death.]]

** Once Tree decides to be nice, she eats junk food like fries, pours chocolate milk on the head of her sorority's president Danielle and kisses Carter who was called a douchebag by Danielle in front of all sorority members minus Danielle, much to their delight. Prior to this in at least one loop, she openly flirts with (as in kisses in full view) Danielle's boyfriend at a party and very nearly beds him, with it being implied that she has done this before.

* BecauseYouWereNiceToMe: Subverted and then, double-subverted. Lori is the only "friend" Tree has who genuinely seems to care enough about her to remember and celebrate her birthday, but Tree repeatedly refuses to eat the cupcake she made, which [[spoiler: forces Lori to kill Tree multiple times, in increasingly painful ways]].

* BigShutUp: One of the first things we hear in every loop is a faded out-of-tune saxophone in another dorm room, followed by a boy's voice shouting "Shut up!"

* BrainlessBeauty: Tree before the events of the film. [[CharacterizationMarchesOn She gets better.]] Danielle on the other hand is a completely straight example.
* BrainyBrunette: The first of many subverted hair colour tropes. Tree proves herself clever at the end, is taking advanced science classes at the beginning and is blonde. Danielle is a brunette and is as dumb as a post. Tim and Ryan are both naive in their own ways (generously speaking), which makes them less than clever overall [[spoiler: and Lori has the most senseless, petty reason for all the carnage she wreaks.]] It's played straight with Carter, who provides strategies for Tree.

* DeathBySex: Played with. Tree is exactly the kind of shallow promiscuous party girl that traditionally dies early in slasher movies but she can't stay dead.

* DestinationDefenestration: [[spoiler:Lori's ultimate fate.]]

** Tree may appear a vacuous slacker coasting her way through Gregory's classes in the beginning, but he's a doctor and she's a med student... which takes some brains to get on to in the first place.
** Dr. Gregory Butler himself is blond.
** Tree's very good at improvising ways out of her murder attempts using whatever she can find.
** Tree pulls off some very smart, well prepared plans when taking on Tombs.
** [[spoiler: She also figures out that Lori is the real mastermind is at the end.]]
** All of the brunettes on the other hand seem to be pretty dim. Tim and Ryan are too naive to understand that their respective behaviours are problematic, [[spoiler: Lori has a pretty stupid reason for all the things she does]] and Danielle seems to have an IQ of about 4. Carter's certainly capable of thinking though.

[[https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/annabelle-creation-and-happy-death-day-both-get-sequels-and-more-movie-news/ A sequel has been announced.]] The title was eventually revealed to be ''Film/HappyDeathDay2U''. Tree finds herself in another time loop and facing a new killer who is going after her and all her friends.

** Finally Danielle, exclusively from Tree. Tree is in the middle of swiping her boyfriend from her, lies to her via text about doing so, publicly humiliates her with a milkshake in the GoldenPath loop and points out she's a tool (direct quote) to a packed diner during her tv interview at the end. Getting accidentally killed by the protagonist during one loop would also, obviously, quallify. It's Danielle though... so [[HateSink who cares?]]

** Tree, as it can't get any worse than reliving being painfully murdered on your ''birthday''...in a different method/set of circumstances each time.

** All of the brunettes on the other hand seem to be pretty dim. Tim and Ryan are too naive to understand that their respective behaviours are problematic, [[spoiler: Lori has a pretty stupid rason for al the things she does]] and Danielle seems to have an IQ of about 4. Carter's certainly capable of thinking though.

** Gregory pulls a StealthHiBye by suddenly appearing behind Carter when the lights come back on after the rolling blackout in the hospital. [[spoiler: Tree later pulls a similar StealthHiBye on Tombs to kill him during the same rolling blackout in the penultimate loop.]] This scene also counts as foreshadowing towards Greogory's asshole nature [[spoiler: when Tree ditches him towards the end.]]

** The shot of Tree and Carter near the end [[spoiler:before she eats the cupcake]] as they celebrate her birthday is reminiscent of ''Film/SixteenCandles''. A nice bit of FridgeBrilliance included in this as well, when it's revealed that Tree has died sixteen times. The cake she's given at the beginning of the day has only one candle on it, but the time of the referenced scene final scene she's been given it sixteen times. Do the math.

* BrainyBrunette: The first of many subverted hair colour tropes. Tree proves herself clever at the end, is taking advanced science classes at the beginning and is blonde. Danielle is a brunette and is as dumb as a post. Tim and Ryan are both naive in their own ways (generously speaking), which makes them less than clever overall [[spoiler: and Lori has the most senseless, petty reason for all the carnage she wreaks.]]

* DeathIsASlapOnTheWrist: Used as a plot point towards the end. Every time Tree dies she wakes up she wakes up weaker and weaker and she feels the after effects of whatever killed her last. Additionally this makes it harder to fight back. It's not clear if Tree has a set number of lives but if it continues, she realises she might not wake up.

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Tree is a master of these. She educates Ryan in respecting women on two seperate days, completely destroys Gregory in the GoldenPath loop and proves her words aren't even necessary for someone as worthless as Danielle. [[spoiler: She gives a brief one to Lori, ''while Lori is trying to kill her'' at the end!]] Hell, she's so good at these she delivers one to ''herself'' when apologizing to her Dad.

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Tree is a master of these. She educates Ryan in respecting women on two seperate days, completely destroys Gregory in the GoldenPath loop and proves her words aren't even necessary for someone as worthless as Danielle. [[spoiler: She gives a brief one to Lori, ''while Lori is trying to kill her'' at the end!]]
Hell, she's so good at these she delivers one to ''herself'' when apologizing to her Dad.

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Tree is a master of these. She educates Ryan in respecting women on two seperate days, completely destroys Gregory in the GoldenPath loop and proves her words aren't even necessary for someone as worthless as Danielle. Hell, she's so good at these she delivers one to ''herself'' when apologizing to her Dad.

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Tree is a master of these. She educates Ryan in respecting women on two seperate days, completely destroys Gregory in the Golden Path loop and proves her words aren't even necessary for someone as worthless as Danielle. Hell, she's so good at these she delivers one to 'herself' when apologising to her Dad.

** The shot of Tree and Carter near the end [[spoiler:before she eats the cupcake]] as they celebrate her birthday is reminiscent of ''Film/SixteenCandles''. A nice bit of FridgeBrilliance included in this as well, when it's revealed that Tree has died sixteen times. The cake she's given at the beginning of the day has only one candle on it, but by the final scene she's been given it sixten times. Maths ensues.

** The shot of Tree and Carter near the end [[spoiler:before she eats the cupcake]] as they celebrate her birthday is reminiscent of ''Film/SixteenCandles''. A nice bit of fridge brilliance included in this as well, when it's revealed that Tree has died sixteen times. The cake she's given at the beginning of the day has only one candle on it, but by the final scene she's been given it sixten times. Maths ensues.