‘Happiness for Beginners’ movie review: A formulaic rom-com embellished with smart dialogue

A still from ‘Happiness for Beginners’
| Photo Credit: Netflix

Helen (Ellie Kemper) knows what she wants: to reset her life. The wilderness survival course that her younger brother Duncan (Alexander Koch) convinces her to go on might just be the solution. Spoiler: it is! 

Happiness for Beginners isn’t different from other romcoms; we have a main character who is dispirited with life and another who has dreamy eyes and a “save everyone” attitude. It is a formula that has worked and this time too, despite the plot’s predictability, it works. 

Helen is an English teacher who on the outside presents a picture of strength but is silently carrying baggage from her divorce and the death of a brother. The survival course is her way of keeping the promises she makes to herself and reclaiming her life, as she adamantly says. 

Jake (Luke Grimes), Duncan’s best friend and previously a doctor, is also on this hike which unsettles Helen and they promise to pretend they have no prior knowledge of each other. But Jake has troubles of his own and when surrounded by the other hikers, the tension between the two brews with every step. 

Nico Santos stars as Hugh, a character very similar to his iconic Matteo from Superstore who chose to come on this hike to “luxuriate in pain and frustration” and a lot of that is in store for him. Windy (Shayvawn Webster) is an always cheerful 28-year-old who is studying ‘happiness’ and inspires the group to look for the good things in their day, every day. Mason (Esteban Benito) is a commodities trader who has been “hiking since I was a baby so I’m here to stay in practice”. Sue (Julia Shiplett) is on the hike to connect with her spirituality and chooses to take a vow of silence (guess how that goes). Kaylee (Gus Birney) is the unsaid silly one in the group and is here to face her fear of wood. Lastly, we have Beckett (Ben Cook), the hiking guide and instructor who has his issues but is overall a good chap determined to give his team the best experience. A rom-com has no ‘rom’ if it has no unfortunate events that bring the main characters together.  

Happiness for Beginners successfully balances the romance and the comedy with just enough focus on the supporting cast to keep them involved and leaves us hankering for a hike, or maybe just a brisk walk in the neighborhood. The visuals of the movie and the fun, non-cringe dialogue keep us engaged throughout and remind us why this genre of movies is deep down a favourite. 

The movie establishes that happiness with a side of love is right around the corner and makes one realise that life is just a survival course to find these two. 

Add this movie to your list of romcoms to watch but if you never get down to watching it, that’s okay too, you’re not missing too much.