The Hicks Happy Hour (2025)

-Written by Kyle Bain. 

2025 TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL REVIEW!

In a family-run variety show, akin to The Partridge Family, The Hicks Happy Hour sees Jill (Phoebe Kuhlman) attempting to boost ratings in the season finale–praying for a renewal. While her children work hard alongside her, her husband Richard (Adam H. Marchand) is nowhere to be found. The Hicks Happy Hour presents the dichotomy between the Hicks family existing in the spotlight, and the one crumbling behind the scenes. 

The Hicks Happy Hour is an apt representation of the entertainment industry, of the facades that often exist on the big screen compared to how those people truly are behind the scenes. In reality, however, this short film represents far more than just the entertainment industry–it’s an accurate telling of each and every one of us that has ever had to go to work after a difficult morning, or pretend that we were alright when we’re struggling emotionally. The Hicks Happy Hour, both the short film and the variety show that exists within it, is a microcosm of the real world. The social subtext of the film is what ultimately piqued my interest, as this aspect of the film is made incredibly clear in the opening moments with the absence of Richard. 

The film is interestingly chaotic, which I feel is a fair representation of variety shows of the 1960’s and 70’s. Sure, those shows were structured the way they were meant to be, but the constant shuffle of talent on and off the stage from day to day often caused them to feel anxiety ridden. The Hicks Happy Hour does a stellar job of developing this sense of anxiety throughout, frequently shifting the focus between the show itself and behind the scenes. Viewers are provided an up-close-and-personal experience that allows them the ability to fully grasp the film’s tone. That dramatic and suspenseful tone remains heavily prominent throughout–until the final moments. A calm then rushes over the short film, and the majority of the Hicks family, allowing viewers to see exactly what Jill and her children needed all along, providing viewers with one final bit of glorious information. 

While letting go can be the hardest thing to do, sometimes it’s the best thing to do. 

The Hicks Happy Hour drives home this message in the closing moments, an effective and accessible tidbit to close out a film so beautifully profound. 

Writer-Director Kate McCarthy creates a short film that is not only steeped in accessible social commentary (also thanks to Co-Writer Michael Kefeyalew), but is aesthetically appealing as well. The sets are vibrant, begging for viewers’ attention and appealing to something juvenile, but innately human in all of us. The bright colors of the stage present in The Hicks Happy Hour is often cut off by drab, darker tones meant to represent the shift in the family dynamic behind the scenes. A simple use of color adds more depth to The Hicks Happy Hour and continues to remind viewers of the hardships that have weighed this family down for far too long. 

The Hicks Happy Hour is aesthetically gorgeous, but emotionally trying. It’s a perfectly balanced film, complete with a poignant narrative, a tonally shifted conclusion–and it remains emotionally accessible throughout. The Hicks Happy Hour is stellar, and maybe one of the best commentaries on the family dynamic that I’ve seen in years. 

Directed by Kate McCarthy. 

Written by Michael Kefeyalew & Kate McCarthy. 

Starring Phoebe Kuhlman, Ella Victoria, Charley Rowan McCain, Tristan Wilder Hallett, David Zaugh, etc. 

8.5/10 = WORTH RENTING OR BUYING