Isabelle Huppert leads this bourgeois family ensemble drama from the two-time Cannes Palme d'Or-winning Austrian auteur, Michael Haneke.
"[Happy End] focuses...
Isabelle Huppert leads this bourgeois family ensemble drama from the two-time Cannes Palme d'Or-winning Austrian auteur, Michael Haneke.
"[Happy End] focuses on the wealthy Laurent family living in Calais. With a top cast, including Huppert, Jean-Louis Trintignant and Mathieu Kassovitz, Haneke looks at three generations of this clan, and explores the generational difference in attitudes towards life and the world. The family seems to be living a comfortable existence, largely unaffected by the crises that surround them – they are, after all, not far from the Calais Jungle migrant camp. The genteel veneer however hides deep problems related to business dealings, illicit sexual desires, online bullying and suicidal tendencies. Each member of this family is, in some way, troubled. Haneke lays out the pieces of the puzzle before us, and the picture they form as they gradually come together is one of malaise. In Happy End, Haneke revisits some of the themes of his most memorable films, and once again gives us his incisive view of a disturbed world." (Sydney Film Festival)
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Where to watch Happy End
69 %154 reviewsRotten Tomatoes® rating
54 %684 reviewsAudience score rating
"Austrian auteur Michael Haneke (Hidden, Amour) hasn’t made a Twin Peaks-style TV series, but if he did, it might look something like this spiteful but slightly drawn-out drama."
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Flicks
Flicks"Haneke's integration of the ways we communicate and conduct our lives via phone and laptop feels uniquely effective."
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Vulture
Vulture"It's as if the director has tied up loose ends from his earlier films, while forcing us to re-examine issues that have only grown more dire since he first brought them to our attention."
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Variety
Variety"The unflinching filmmaker behind Funny Games, Hidden and Amour returns to his decidedly uncuddly pet themes."
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Total Film
Total Film"Happy End is a satirical nightmare of haute-bourgeois European prosperity: as stark, brilliant and unforgiving as a halogen light."
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The Guardian
The Guardian"Happy End feels like an assemblage of Haneke's favourite themes, a spread of nibbles that ... never amounts to a full meal."
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Screen Daily
Screen Daily"There seems to be something missing here."
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Hollywood Reporter
Hollywood Reporter"Unfortunately for Haneke, even though he has tried something a little different, this feels like an old dog doing the same tricks just with new toys."
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FilmInk
FilmInk"It is perhaps not top-notch Haneke but Happy End is an intermittently gripping film about loveless people in a joyless world."
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Empire Magazine
Empire MagazineHappy End | Details
- Rating
- M, Mature themes, sexual references and coarse language
- Runtime
- 107
- Genre
- Drama
- Country of origin
- France, Austria, Germany
