The theme of clinical depression in the film industry is one delicately touched upon by many films, may it be About a Boy, Little Miss Sunshine, or even Perks of Being a Wallflower. All of these films focus on depressed characters and the impact it has on the people around this character who attempt to help them. Well Colin Tilley's short film, Mr Happy, manages to perfectly capture the potency of portraying a suicidal man, with no-one around to help.
The main character, Victor, played by Chancelor Bennett, is a man defeated by his own redundant routine and a distressing experience of being cheated on, but cannot have the courage to kill himself. The concept, devised by Colin Tilley, is a unique spin on the 21st Century's approach to serious issues, depicting a website providing a service for people struggling to commit suicide. The melancholic tone of the plot, accompanied by the intense, brilliant acting from Bennett, provides an intriguing inner view to the mind of a depressed office supplies worker. The use of a three character cast is not uncommon in short films lacking a Hollywood budget, but in Mr Happy, the two external characters manage to encapsulate Victor's problems and social difficulties. Bennett's love interest in the film is a well played role of a beautiful young women with the ability to distract Victor from his suicidal tendencies, she is a mysterious figure who is hard to pin down.
In an interview with Billboard.com, Bennett said how he "connected (to) with this misguided search for true happiness" but admits it was "kind of hard to get fully in tune" with the notion of being suicidal. This was not particularly evident, as Bennett poignantly translated feelings of anxiety and frustration. The attention to detail and post production perception of Victor's paranoia is expertly done by Colin Tilley, the director behind Nicki Minaj's "Anaconda" video and Chris Brown's "Look At Me Now". However, this is a change of pace for Tilley; there are no action-packed scenes in this short film, no car chases, no explosions or witty one-liners from the protagonist, just a gripping portrayal of a lonely man trying to end it all.