Capricious Childhood: Confronting Family Life in John Sheedy's 'H Is for Happiness'

Neatly balancing a candy-coloured aesthetic and quirky tone with themes of grief, depression and emotional neglect, John Sheedy's comedy is an often unpredictable representation of the inner life of a girl on the brink of adolescence. Considering the film's privileging of its young protagonist's perspective, Susan Bye asks whether its magical elements and sunny denouement ultimately serve to reflect a positive or pessimistic portrayal of family.

Additional keywords:
Barry Jonsberg, Coming of age, bullying, SIDS, Lisa Hoppe, Cary Bazalgette, Terry Staples, children's film, family film, Wes Anderson, Richard Roxburgh, Miriam Margolyes, Deborah Mailman, Vladimir Propp