Christopher Landon’s Happy Death Day 2U is a fascinating deviation from his 2017 Groundhog Day slasher riff that first laughed in death’s face. Landon and co-scribe Scott Lobdell distance themselves even further from hardcore horror treatments – almost entirely ditching Happy Death Day’s tepid subgenre commitment – and head into blackened Weird Science territory. Dare I say it’s more a quantum physics time paradox laugh like something from a futuristic Scooby Doo episode? Happy Death Day 2U almost outright abandons terror to design a more emotionally-driven teen comedy that just so happens to feature an early death sequence montage.

Oddly enough though – coming from someone who wasn’t overly keen on Happy Death Day – the switcheroo actually works.

Tree Gelbman (Jessica Rothe) has a new lease on life after the events of the first film. She’s dating nice-guy Carter (Israel Broussard), has got rid of psycho killer Lori...