Chance the Rapper teams with director Colin Tilley in the VICE short film “Mr. Happy.” In the 23-minute visuals, the Chicago rapper takes on the role of Victor, a depressed young man on the brink of suicide. After attempting to kill himself, he discovers MrHappy.com, a website where you can hire a hitman to kill you. But after Victor sets his date to die, a random meeting forces him to question whether his life is really worth ending.
“‘Mr. Happy’ is my first film, my first super, super narrative piece of work that anyone’s seen from me,” said Tilley, who has directed music videos for Chris Brown, Justin Bieber, and Nicki Minaj. “I want to tell stories about really interesting characters that are multi-dimensional, and I saw this as the perfect opportunity to dive into a darker place with a very eclectic actor like Chance.”
Chance shines in the complex role. “The character Chance plays is dark, broken, and extremely vulnerable,” added Tilley. “My goal was to get the audience to believe everything we see through Chance’s eyes in this crazy, surreal, over-the-top, exaggerated world full of nostalgia.”
Watch the dark and emotional story unfold.