In a world where humans and puppets coexist, a washed-up puppet detective reteams with his old human partner to solve a series of murders.

COMEDY/CRIME

The Happytime Murders (2018)

Directed by Brian Henson

Written by Todd Berger

Starring Melissa McCarthy, Bill Barretta, Maya Rudolph,
​Joel McHale, Elizabeth Banks, Leslie David Baker, Dorien Davies

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Connor Eyzaguirre

January 23, 2021

8/10

I never knew I wanted to see a raunchy Muppet movie, but here we are. The Happytime Murders was eviscerated by critics and fans alike when it came out in 2018. I remember working the film (at the time I worked at the Alamo Drafthouse), and the theater was completely empty, which never happened. I finally decided to check it out for myself, and while it's not exactly a masterpiece, it's far from boring. It's just as ridiculous, over-the-top, sex-crazed, and maniacal as I expected. It's also pretty damn funny, thanks mostly to Melissa McCarthy who is just having fun with it.

This is a world where humans and sentient puppets coexist, but not in harmony. Puppets are secondary, and most humans are openly racist towards them. One puppet, Phil Philips (Barretta), became a cop, breaking barriers for puppet-kind in the process. But one screw-up cost him his career, and now he's a PI. His old partner, Edwards (McCarthy), resents him and breaks his balls all the time, but now they're forced to work together to solve a series of murders connected to an old puppet TV show. We see some pretty fucked-up shit in this movie, including what may be the raunchiest sex scene in modern film history, complete with silly string puppet sperm, which is a sentence I never thought I'd write. Still, it made me laugh the whole time, and that matters more than anything.

The Happytime Murders is actually directed by Muppet creator Jim Henson's son Brian, who directed Muppet Treasure Island and The Muppet Christmas Carol. God only knows what Jim would think of this film, but I love that Brian tried to do something a little different with his father's legacy. I hope this film gets reclaimed as a cult classic, because it is very funny and original.