The film narrates the event at The Pennsylvania State University, when in November 2011 the former long-time defensive coordinator of school's football team, Jerry Sandusky, was charged with 40 counts of child sex abuse, setting off a firestorm of accusations about who failed to protect the children.
Reception
Happy Valley received positive reviews from critics. Justin Chang of Variety said in his review that "Amir Bar-Lev offers a typically gripping and thoughtful take on the Penn State scandal."[6] John DeFore, in his review for The Hollywood Reporter, praised the film, saying that "Amir Bar-Lev's Happy Valley is more concerned with the phenomenon of team spirit than any single question of fact or moral judgment."[7] Eric Kohn Vaughan of Indiewire graded the film with a B+ and said, "Happy Valley turns the tables on the national perception of the scandal. Looking directly into the camera after the team has been banned by the league, one supporter shouts, 'Stop putting all the bad stuff on TV!' The words resonate for anyone who has followed the headlines from the past several years. Watching Happy Valley, it's hard not to feel complicit in the university's weakened state."[8]
