As film journalists, I'm not sure there's an overarching theme we've seen more over the last 4-5 years than COVID lockdown inspired films. Films about Covid. Films thematically adjacent to COVID. Films shot during COVID.
It's a sure sign of just how traumatic that experience was that we've continued to see COVID-inspired cinema several years removed from the worst days of the shutdown.
Our Happy Place, largely shot during the shutdown after real-life couple Paul Bickel and Raya Miles relocated from their small LA apartment to their home in Big Bear Lake, became a project to channel energy with co-stars Tracie Thomas and Eugene Byrd joining in via FaceTime.
That powerful sense of isolation is the essential component for Our Happy Place. The film stars Bickel and Miles as Paul and Raya. Paul is confined to bed with an illness undefined. Raya has become his sole caregiver in the isolated setting.
Then, one morning Raya wakes up in the heavy forests surrounding their cabin.
Then, it happens again.
And, well, you get the picture.
As Raya attempts to figure out what's going on, the experience intensifies.
Our Happy Place is Bickel's debut feature, creepy more than horrifying despite occasional flashes of gore and a pervasive sense of menace. While my modest rating for the film might indicate my distaste for it, that's not quite true. It's a solid mid-range thriller that capitalizes narratively on its roots and the skeletal nature of its cast, crew, and production team. I suppose you could call this a thriller, though I'd be more likely to lean into more of a slow-sizzle thriller.
Miles does impress as Raya, her ever increasing desperation matching the film's narrative tosses and turns as every time she wakes up in the woods she's dealing with deeper graves, amplified confusion, and psychological taunts of women being tortured and her now bedridden husband being the culprit.
Tracie Thoms, as Raya's friend Amy and seen primarily via video chats, becomes increasingly concerned.
For the most part, I had Our Happy Place figured out early on and was correct. I'd guess the same will be true for many viewers. This, coupled with the film's narratively repetitive nature, makes it a difficult view worth watching primarily for the performance from Miles and lensing work that is quite impressive from Bickel and Damu Malik.
Bickel's work here, especially toward film's end, is understated yet impressively menacing.
It feels appropriate that Our Happy Place has landed with indie distributor Indie Rights, a gifted indie home skilled at putting out difficult to market low-budget projects. The right audience is going to appreciate Our Happy Place, though in the flooded streaming world finding that audience can be mighty difficult.
I'm not particularly fond of the phrase "promising filmmaker," but Our Happy Place presents Bickel as a promising filmmaker with a strong visual eye and quite the imagination. While Our Happy Place isn't quite a full-on thumbs-up from me, it's got enough going for it that I can't help but hope those who love psychologically inspired horror/thrillers give it a chance. I'm also going to keep my eyes on Miles's future work as she's a definite natural for this type of flick with equal parts devilish gleam in her eyes and an aching vulnerability that will keep you wondering.
You can check out Our Happy Place via your usual streaming platforms.
Written by Richard Propes
The Independent Critic
