Quartile rating: 6/10 · 1 rating
In a world where humans coexist with puppets—who are seen as lesser citizens—cast members of a beloved 1990s children's television series begin getting murdered one by one. Puppet Phil Philips, an ex-LAPD detective-turned-private eye, takes on the case at the request of his old boss in order to assist his former partner, Detective Connie Edwards.
The Happytime Murders leans hard into its R-rated puppet gimmick but fails to build a compelling mystery or memorable characters around it. The plot is a generic buddy-cop procedural that coasts on shock value rather than clever writing. Acting from the human cast (Melissa McCarthy, Maya Rudolph) is serviceable but underdeveloped, while the puppet work is technically decent. Cinematography is unremarkable, fitting the straight-to-genre aesthetic. The ending is predictable and rushed. Novelty earns a modest bump for the audacious premise of adult-oriented live-action puppet noir — a concept that hasn't been done quite this way — even if the execution squanders most of the potential.