Mayhem Awaits in Strange Indie Film Super Happy Fun Clown (PANIC)
Title: Super Happy Fun Clown
First Non-Festival Release: January 1, 2026 (Digital/Streaming Platforms)
Director: Patrick Rea
Writer: Eric Winkler
Runtime: 87 Minutes
Starring: Jennifer Seward, Nicole Hall, Matt Leisy
Where to Watch: Check out where to find it here
This film’s review was written after its screening at the Panic Film Festival in 2025.
Life has a habit of beating the hell out of well-meaning and promising people. The quirky, the strange, and the misfits have it even harder as they try and navigate living in a world that would rather them conform than thrive.
People like Jennifer (Jennifer Seward) fit these criteria quite perfectly. A bright and empathetic little girl, her only goal in life is to make people happy, which she dreams of doing by being a clown. Discouraged by her mother, Jennifer goes down an unfulfilling and tragic path that leads to her waking up one day dissatisfied with the mess that is her life. While she gets to taste freedom in the few precious hours she dons her clown persona: Jenn-O the Clown, she nevertheless finds herself at the center of a bloody night of mayhem when she finally snaps.
A delightful, yet strange, surprise, Super Happy Fun Clown is a surreal character study that has a humor all its own.
From the start, it’s easy to tell that Super Happy Fun Clown is a deeply weird movie. Awash in a gritty, yet colorful, realism, Director Patrick Rhea takes his time to shape Jenn-O’s world as a way to explain just what pushes a clown to the edge. Chock full of strange characters, odd dialogue, and absurd story beats, it’s hard to tell what’s coming next. The bizarre nature of Super Happy Fun Clown becomes its strength, unabashed in its belief in its story and Jenn-O. Its indie charm does some heavy lifting when Rhea takes more of his wilder swings.
The character dynamics may stretch the bounds of reality a bit too far but given the absurdity of its world, it makes for an understandable choice. Torn down her entire life, Jennifer just needs one person to believe in her dreams, or at the very least support her initially harmless hobby. With a husband who hates her, a mother who never misses a chance to belittle her, and no other outlet for social support beyond the kids that see her show at the park, it isn’t surprising that Jennifer snaps. It gets cartoonish at times but ultimately serves the film’s greater messaging on supporting [good] oddballs and cultivating their interests. Jenn-O’s reign of terror didn’t start on Halloween; she was living through it alone all these years. It’s not a terribly unique origin story but powerful enough to share in a time where violence seems to be inspired more and more by ignored loneliness and angst.
Unsurprisingly violent, Super Happy Fun Clown gets creative enough with its various kills in Jenn-O’s reign of terror to satisfy gorehounds everywhere. Taking the time to watch Jennifer grow into the killer she’s destined to be, the audience is treated to a series of cathartic, gory kills before the violence spreads to more innocent lives. Still, the implements are varied, and the confrontations are delightfully twisted. Super Happy Fun Clown relies on the shock value from its string of gory kills, but the lack of character development from Jenn-O’s victims dulls the impact.
What kills this clown slasher film the most is its uneven pacing, which blunts its ability to rev up any sustainable tension. Slow-moving and focusing more on its comedic elements, Rhea indulges in shaping Jennifer’s journey for audiences to fully understand her spiral. While true to her character, it sucks much of the direction from the project, subsequently dulling the impact of her carnage. Even during Jenn-O’s lethal quest the tension just isn’t there.
Likely to be one of the stranger films you’d come across, Super Happy Fun Clown warns about the dangers of living someone else’s life. Interesting commentary about identity, mental health, and societal pressure to conform demonstrates that there is a strong story underneath the messiness. Pacing issues, awkward dialogue, and hit-or-miss comedy make Super Happy Fun Clown, if nothing else, a memorable, flawed film. Whether clowns make you smile or scream, this carnival caper is bound to leave an impression either way.
Overall Score? 5/10
