Super Happy Fun Clown is a mix of shock, entertainment, and confusion about what it’s trying to say. Still, overall, it’s a wild ride, even if it’s one I would not revisit a second time.
Super Happy Fun Clown has a good cast, a compelling lead, and engrossing direction, making incredible use of silence and its score. However, the lack of flow between the lead’s childhood and adulthood, her transgressive acts, and inexplicable mental health shifts create a disappointing film that engages in shock for shock’s sake. That is fine. But the film should avoid attempts at creating something more profound. So, it winds up as nothing more than a stereotypical white woman’s obsessive rampage because she ruined her own life. Ultimately, Super Happy Fun Clown is worth a view if you don’t mind depth mixed with superficiality and disturbing scenes.
Directed by Patrick Rea (The Night Is Young, I Am Lisa) and written by Eric Winkler (I Am Lisa), the film at first builds a sympathetic childhood where the clown, whose name is Jennifer, played by Jennifer Seward (Black Zone, The Stylist), has a controlling upbringing. Her mom, played by Deborah Madick (Vincent’s Vow, Batman Beyond), only cares about Jennifer succeeding in life. When her childhood genius does not lead to a plush life as an adult, her mom has nothing but contempt for her. So, eventually, the clown snaps. It’s a mix of irritation, sympathy, and dislike as she unravels.
Super Happy Fun Clown Keeps Purpose Elusive
Throughout the movie, it feels like there is something more it wants to explore. Concepts of abusive, even smothering expectations, sexism, and such drift in and out like a child playing peekaboo. But it stops at the glimpses, lingering in uncertainty, before abandoning them. Plus, the idea of what girls and women suffer falls by the wayside when her bedroom features images of many men who were serial killers, who preyed on girls and women. While Aileen Wuornos is on her wall too, it shifts the dynamic from a sympathetic victim to a power-hungry white woman.
Also, marrying a predator, then killing him because he ignores you, is peak white woman. It’s why “liberal” white women can marry Trump-supporting men. It’s not about what harm the men inflict on others, but how they treat them. That focus strengthens the embittered white woman aspect that culminates in the haunted house. Witnessing a white woman killing Black people, especially given the current government and societal upheaval, is beyond discomforting. So, Super Happy Fun Clown feels uncertain about how to capture a woman snapping.
Direction, Score, and Silence Hit
That’s not to say the film lacks entertainment. On the contrary, the lead actress, Jennifer Seward, and Patrick Rea’s direction build an unrelenting discomfort. The score expands this feeling, where you wonder what will happen next. In that sense, the movie’s unpredictability works in its favor. For those who enjoy shocking moments too, the film does not disappoint.
Super Happy Fun Clown is a mix of shock, entertainment, and confusion about what it’s trying to say. Still, overall, it’s a wild ride, even if it’s one I would not revisit a second time. Chock-full of jaw-dropping moments and uncertainty about its course, Super Happy Fun Clown is surprising in the best and worst ways.
