The movie you are referring to is “Happy Death Day,” a 2017 black comedy slasher film starring Jessica Rothe as Tree Gelbman, a college student who keeps reliving the day of her birthday. In the film, Tree is murdered on the night of her birthday but wakes up repeatedly to the same day, trapped in a time loop. Each time she relives the day, she tries to avoid her killer and figure out who is behind the murder in order to break the cycle.
The story begins with Tree waking up in the dorm room of a classmate named Carter Davis after a night of partying. She dismisses him and goes about her day, including interactions with her sorority housemate Lori and a married professor, Gregory Butler, with whom she is having an affair. On her birthday night, as she heads to a party, she is lured into a tunnel and killed by a masked figure. However, instead of dying permanently, she wakes up again in Carter’s bed, realizing she is stuck reliving the same day.
Throughout the movie, Tree experiences multiple deaths and wakes up each time to the same morning, forcing her to piece together clues about her killer’s identity. She tries different strategies to avoid death, including barricading herself in her room, but the killer always finds a way to murder her again. As she relives the day, Tree also begins to change her behavior, ending her affair with Gregory and attempting to reconcile with her father.
Eventually, Tree discovers that Lori, her sorority housemate, is also involved with Gregory and driven by jealousy to commit the murders. In a final confrontation, Tree manages to kill Lori and escape the time loop. The film ends with Tree celebrating her birthday without fear, and a hint of a romantic connection with Carter.
“Happy Death Day” combines elements of horror, mystery, and dark humor, using the time loop concept to create suspense and character development. The movie was successful enough to spawn a sequel, “Happy Death Day 2U,” which continues the story of Tree Gelbman and her experiences with the time loop and the killer.
This film is notable for its unique twist on the time loop trope, blending slasher horror with a Groundhog Day-style narrative, making it both thrilling and accessible to a wide audience. The repeated reliving of the birthday allows the protagonist to grow and change, adding depth to what might otherwise be a straightforward horror story[1][2].
