A twelve-year-old girl with boundless optimism and a unique view of the world is inspired by the strange new boy at school and sets out to mend her broken family – whatever it takes.[1]
Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 77% of critics reviewed the film positively, with an average score of 6.7/10, based on 31 reviews. The site's critical consensus reads, "A feel-good family film that's as visually vibrant as its sunny outlook, H Is for Happiness finds a universal message in its young protagonist's journey".[6]
Alissa Simon of Variety said that the film, "Provides feel-good entertainment for the entire family without pandering – and definitely without sacrificing style or substance".[7]David Stratton wrote, "What could have been trite and mawkish turns out to be really rather engaging".[8]
Dov Kornits of Filmink called the film, "incredibly generous hearted, embracing the rich, the poor, the normal, the damaged, the eccentric, the humanity in equal measure".[9]
Andrew F. Peirce of The Curb said, "I can say with complete certainty that I have not smiled this hard after a film in a very long time."[10]
Conversely, Paul Byrnes of the Sydney Morning Herald argued, "Sheedy never finds the right tone for this ambitious project. Candice's florid language is great on paper, one of the main attractions of the book, but it's almost impossible to translate to the screen."[11]
Leigh Paatsch of the Herald Sun said, "Some nice work does continually surface during H is for Happiness, but so too do its niggling inconsistencies. A less-is-more approach might have been the better way to go."[12]
Box office
Box office sales were disappointing on its opening weekend, taking only A$96,000 across 158 screens; it was outdone in its pre-release screenings, taking A$117,000.[4]
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