Our Happy Place

Our Happy Place was so good! It's full of scares and mystery. Just when you think you've figured out the plot, you can kiss your expectations goodbye, as an end-of-movie twist turns it all upside down. The sound and music heighten the tension and fear to astonishing levels and effect. The acting was top-notch, with the women particularly shining. Raya is truly heartbreaking, and Tracie Thoms is appropriately hilarious, a needed comic relief from the high tension. The characters in peril are VERY believable, and sell their fear so well, I was actually worried about them. I saw this movie at a festival a couple months ago, and liked it so much that I went to Dances With Films just to see it a second time.

OUR HAPPY PLACE!!!!!

This psychological thriller definitely deserves being ranked in Horror Genre. It touches on real-life tragedies and complex feelings with all to relatable characters.

The performances are great and deeply unsettling at times.

Featuring witty comedic bits, gorgeous cinematography. As well as the sound well music in it was very engaging, thrilling, and beautifully orchestrated!

The Film makers style is superb Paul Bickel has created such a great feature with his awesome skills.

You are in for a real treat with this one, keeping you engaged on every level to the end.

Is this another movie to add on your Christmas Movie List?

This was a film that I was alerted to by Keir from Strike Media. I confirmed that I was interested in the screener and was alerted that I needed to get accredited for Raindance Film Festival. That was what sparked me to try. This did play at a festival back in 2024, but it seems it's getting widely released this year. I wanted to watch it for my 2025 horror list. It was making its international premiere at Raindance as well.

Synopsis: Raya (Raya Miles), a lonely woman caring for her bedridden husband, is haunted by terrifying nightmares. She wakes up each morning in the forest, falling deeper into freshly dug graves beneath her. As supernatural forces torment her and the line between dream and reality collapses, she unearths a horrifying secret buried within the woods-and herself.

We start this off in a surreal way. We're getting flashes of this couple. It then has Raya waking up outside. Her feet are torn up as it appears she walked out here barefoot. We follow her journey back to a cabin that she shares with her husband. This is Raya. She is married to Paul (Paul Bickel). What this film will do is show us when things were good as flashbacks. Something happened to him and he's bedridden. He requires Raya to feed and clean him. He also has an oxygen mask most of the time.

Something else of note is that this seems to be taking place during the pandemic. Raya has decided to quarantine at their cabin near the woods. The title seems to correlate to the fond memories made here. Raya does call Amy (Tracie Thoms) via FaceTime. Something I found funny, it seems that Amy is married to Raya's boss, Derek (Eugene Byrd).

Raya tells her friend about her waking up in the woods. She's worried as it keeps happening every night. Amy gives her the idea of breaking her current routine. She wants her to get ready. Put on make-up and normal clothes. Go to the store to pick up real food items and make a meal. Raya agrees with this plan. It is at the store that she notices missing posters for women in the area.

Despite what she does, Raya continues to wake up in the woods around her. Amy during a call has her mark on the map where there seems to be a pattern to this. It doesn't help that since Raya is sleepwalking, she's not rested. She is losing track of time more. She may also be haunted by ghosts. She decides to investigate what is happening to break the cycle, but what she finds might mess her up even more.

That is where I'll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. Where I want to start then would be that this film jumps right into it. It was a bit disorienting. Reflecting on that, I think it works to its advantage. It isn't until things start to come together that it makes sense. The first piece of evidence I noticed was this necklace that Raya put on. There is an image that she sees that makes her start to question things. This was something that I wanted to bring up if you decide to watch this. Not an issue though, I did want to say that.

Now that I've set this up, let's delve deeper. This is a character study of Raya. She is the one that is isolated by herself. Not literally, since Paul is there. With his current state though, he can't talk or truly interact with her. This starts by setting up that since they're in quarantine, she can't just have people over or go out. She could bring something home and with his current condition, it could kill him. That forced isolation could wear on anyone, even if the person you're caring for is the love of life. There is more to this though. The deeper she gets into figuring out why she's waking up in the woods and why there are these ghosts here, I get the idea that guilt is setting in. She might have known more than she realized and was intentionally ignoring it. I'll end this by saying it is a solid performance by Miles. She carries most of the movie.

I think I'll then shift slightly over to finish out with acting performances. Bickel is interesting here. In the present, he's bedridden. I don't recall us ever learning why. He does well at looking like this person who is an invalid now. In the flashbacks, we see that he's a nice guy with a good personality. I like the development of this as we go. Thoms is solid as her best friend. I like that she helps with exposition, especially since Raya is the unreliable lead that we're following. We can't trust the things that she's seeing. I'd say the rest of the cast was solid to round this out for what was needed as well.

All that is left then is filmmaking aspects. I thought that the cinematography and framing were good. The first thing that jumps out to me was them being able to capture where this is set. It is near the woods. There aren't many people around and there's just a few stores nearby. Then going along with this, it's winter. We see that snow falls over one of the nights that Raya goes out. They get a solid accumulation from there. This feels cold and it is close to Christmas as well with musical selections. That was a good touch since it is difficult to capture that vibe with characters isolating. This is limited in the effects used, but I'd say overall those worked for what we got. The rest of the soundtrack was fine and I'd say that the sound design worked as well. The mystery is quite eerie so the filmmaking helps to build that atmosphere.

In conclusion, this delivers a disorienting yet ultimately compelling character study centered on Raya's deteriorating mental state and the unsettling mystery unfolding around her. Bolstered by Miles' strong central performance and effective atmospheric filmmaking that captures the bleak, isolated setting, the film successfully builds an eerie sense of dread. It might not have the most complex mystery; the eventual revelations are impactful. I would recommend this film to those who appreciate psychological horror that delves deep into its protagonist's psyche.

My Rating: 7 out of 10.

Buckle up! You are in for a harrowing, psychologically nuanced, brilliantly heart stopping, scream-inducing, raucous thrill ride. You may wonder who is in control as we follow our lead character Raya who keeps waking up in the woods not knowing how she got there. Living as the sole caregiver to her seriously ill husband in the woods of Big Bear, we witness Raya's resourceful attempts to solve the mystery of why she has no memory of leaving her own home in the dead of night, and awaking in the woods, and injured no less. Raya and her partner's relationship, played by gifted multi-hyphenate Writer/Director/Actor/Producer Paul Bickel is revealed in endearing flashbacks, where his disarming grin and the playfulness of their love feel relatable, organic and grounding - only to have the ground pulled out from under them, and us as audience, as we leap back to Raya's untenable present.

There is a white-knuckle paced intensity Bickel and team create, sharpened to palpitating heights by Jim Holdridge, Paul Bickel and David Ho's editing, making you grit your teeth in determination, almost as if your own intensity will help free Raya from this inexplicable, eerie cycle she's involuntarily repeating. From Tracie Thoms (also produces) and Eugene Byrd's masterful comic relief (equally touching, too) as counterpoint to Raya's pain, to pitch perfect performances by the entire ensemble, with crushingly impactful performance by Allysun Faso and evocative duo Carmen Serano and Terry Gingles, to the breathtaking fear composer David Hernandez startles us with to stunning effect throughout his score, to the flawless sound design by David Ho (also edits & produces), hauntingly beautiful cinematography (Paul Bickel & Damu Malick) of the grandeur of the lakelines, skylines, and elegant deer in their element in the woods, Bickel and Miles have made an unforgettable feature that will spark conversation, you don't want to miss this terrifying gem.

Most inedible of all, is the searingly raw, deeply poignant performance by Raya Miles, as she fights to free herself from this tortuous waking nightmare, even as she's equally devoted to caring for her ailing husband. You don't want to look away from Miles for even a fraction of a second - she's too riveting. Our Happy Place is a testament to what women endure in the quest to love: you don't want to miss this quest. Note this brassy, bold & resourceful filmmaking dynamo of Paul Bickel, Raya Miles, Tracie Thoms, & team, as they make their ongoing mark - you'll be glad (if haunted) you did!

Thriller fans, you will find yourself completely captivated from the very first frame! Set in the isolation of the Big Bear mountains during the pandemic, Our Happy Place follows Raya, a woman who wakes up in the woods - again and again - plagued by terrifying visions, nightmares, and inexplicable memory lapses. As Raya's reality slowly becomes distorted, her only anchor is her bedridden husband, Paul, who is plagued with a mysterious illness that only deepens her sense of helplessness. The film achieves masterful tension and heart-stopping scares, pulling the audience into Raya's unraveling psyche as her horrific visions reveal glimpses of Paul trying to kill her. The heart of the film is Raya Miles, delivering a performance that is nothing short of stunning. Her portrayal is raw and layered, carrying the weight with remarkable presence. This is a must-see for fans of the psychological thriller genre - and a film you'll want to re-watch the minute the credits roll.