Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Moderate
- Complexity
- Simple
- Violence
- Moderate
- irreverent
- crude
- sardonic
- late night comedy
- adult movie night
What critics said
Critics broadly agreed that the inventive adult-puppet premise was squandered by witless, overly crude comedy and a weak crime story.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
The film places an adult murder mystery, explicit humor, and noir-like private-eye elements in a puppet-populated world.
The murdered victims are the puppet cast of a 1990s children’s television show, whose image is contrasted with sex, drugs, and violence.
Puppets coexist with humans but are explicitly treated as second-class citizens.
Human detective Connie Edwards investigates alongside former puppet cop Phil Philips in a buddy-cop framework.
Films like The Happytime Murders, and why
Team America: World Police
shares the collision of irreverent adult humor, puppetry, and action parody
Meet the Feebles
shares crude comedy, stylized puppetry, and transgressive treatment of familiar children’s entertainment
The Other Guys
shares buddy-cop crime investigation, absurd humor, and exaggerated violence
Movie Details
- Director
- Brian Henson
- Release Date
- 2018-08-22
- Runtime
- 91 min
- Rating
- 5.8 / 10 (1113)
Cast
- Melissa McCarthy
- Bill Barretta
- Leslie David Baker
- Elizabeth Banks
- Joel McHale
- Maya Rudolph
- Dorien Davies
- Drew Massey
- Kevin Clash
- Michael McDonald
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- Amazon Prime Video, Philo, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, MovieSphere+ Amazon Channel
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is The Happytime Murders about?
- A disgraced puppet private eye and his human former partner pursue a serial killer through a profane, class-divided Los Angeles where children’s television nostalgia collides with hard-boiled crime parody.
- What is The Happytime Murders like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of The Happytime Murders as brisk, its intensity as moderate and its storytelling as simple.
- Is The Happytime Murders violent?
- Somewhat. Ember rates the violence in The Happytime Murders as moderate.
- What did critics think of The Happytime Murders?
- Critics broadly agreed that the inventive adult-puppet premise was squandered by witless, overly crude comedy and a weak crime story.
- Which films are like The Happytime Murders?
- Films with a similar feel include Team America: World Police, Meet the Feebles, and The Other Guys.
- How long is The Happytime Murders?
- The Happytime Murders runs 91 minutes.
- Where can I watch The Happytime Murders?
- In United States, The Happytime Murders streams on Amazon Prime Video, Philo, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, MovieSphere+ Amazon Channel.
