A Dinner Party Descends into Murderous Mayhem
Artsploitation Films will be releasing the decidedly raucous Happy Times directed by Michael Mayer on DVD, Blu-ray and streaming platforms this February 9th. An Israeli American co-production, the film marks a stylistic departure for director and co-writer Michael Mayer who directed the 2012 gay romance Out in the Dark.
An Israeli American couple invite friends and family over to their Hollywood mansion for a Shabbat dinner party. But a deadly mix of alcohol, inflated egos, inappropriate lust and raging jealousy turns the sedate affair into a cauldron of murderous mayhem.
Filmed with a mix of English and Hebrew, this Jews Behaving Badly story stars Israeli actor Michael Aloni (Out in the Dark, Netflix’s Shtisel), Shani Atias (Ten Days in the Valley, Shameless, MacGyver) Guy Adler (The Angel, Big Bad Wolves) and Israeli TV star Liraz Chamami (Manayek, Unchained, Asylum City, Malkot).
Initial Reviews:
“Gleefully sadistic and wholly unpredictable, Happy Times takes the Tarantino template, sprinkles liberally with some insightful social and cultural context, and lets loose with a torrent of inspired mayhem.” – John W. Allman, Creative Loafing Tampa Bay
“A bloody hilarious and hilariously bloody movie.” – Michael Haberfelner, Search My Trash
“A wildly amusing dark comedy with every impulsive-driven and tension-wrought scene chock full with bated breath.” – Steven Lewis, It’s Bloggin’ Evil
Country: USA, Israel
Language: English, Hebrew with English Subtitles
Year: 2019
Running Time: 93 minutes
Director: Michael Mayer
Producer: Tomer Almagor, Paola Porrini Bisson, Michael Mayer
Screenplay: Guy Ayal, Michael Mayer
Cast: Michael Aloni, Liraz Chamami, Iris Bahr, Alon Pdut, Stéfi Celma, Ido Mor, Guy Adler, Shani Atias, Daniel Lavid, Mike Burstyn, Ziv Berkovich
