Heart Eyes review

HEART EYES: 

THE FEEL-GOOD ROMANTIC SLASHER FILM OF THE YEAR AND I MEAN THAT GENUINELY! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** ½ out of 4

SCREEN GEMS

The Heart Eyes Killer in Heart Eyes

 

            In the tradition of My Bloody Valentine, writer-producer Christopher Landon (Happy Death Day 1 and 2, Freaky, Drop) and director Josh Ruben (Scare Me, Werewolves Within) join forces to bring their take on a romantic slasher film to the screen just in time for Valentine’s Day in the new movie, Heart Eyes. I’ve actually been very impressed by a lot of recent slasher films including the recent Scream sequels and Eli Roth’s Thanksgiving so, I was definitely interested when I first saw the trailer for this movie. 

            Well, after being disappointed by the Ke Huy Quan Valentine’s Day action movie, Love Hurts which came out the same day, I can say with much enthusiasm that Heart Eyes is the far better Valentine’s Day 2025 release. This was a blast; I found the film very entertaining as both a slasher movie and surprisingly as a romantic-comedy complete with derivative tropes, the film affectionately nails both genres which will certainly make for an enjoyable date night. 

            The film follows the Heart Eyes Killer who for the past few years has been stalking and murdering couples on Valentine’s Day (It’s Heart Eyes’ kink). Now, the killer makes his/her way to Seattle where pitch designer for a jewelry store, Ally (Olivia Holt-Kickin’ It, Girl VS Monster, Cloak & Dagger) and famed designer, Jay Simmons (Mason Gooding-Booksmart, Scream 5 and 6, Y2K) become Heart Eyes’ new victims…but they aren’t really a couple though. 

            However, as these two not quite star-crossed lovers try to survive the night, Ally and Jay realize they might have more feelings for each other than they expected. Might not be a good time to be romantic when there’s a serial killer on the loose that murders couples. 

            The film also stars Gigi Zumbado (Pitch Perfect 2, Bridge and Tunnel, The Rookie) as Ally’s friend Monica, Michaela Watkins (Saturday Night Live, Enough Said, Brigsby Bear) as Abby’s boss Crystal, Devon Sawa (Casper, Final Destination, Chucky) as Detective Hobbs, Jordana Brewster (The Faculty, Fast & Furious franchise, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning) as Detective Jeanette Shaw (And yes, they do make a reference to that in the film), Latham Gaines (Bridge to Terabithia) as Nico, and Yoson An (Mulan (2020), Plane) as David. 

            Overall, Heart Eyes is unironically a feel-good romantic-comedy slasher film that succeeds in both genres. The movie hits a lot of rom-com tropes and clichés (mostly in a self-aware sort of way), but it works because Olivia Holt and Mason Gooding have surprisingly great onscreen chemistry. 

            I can’t say I’m super familiar with their other work aside from this being a far better movie for Gooding than Y2K, but they are incredibly likable here and their romantic progression is very natural in the film to a point where you sometimes forget you’re also watching a slasher movie. Holt and Gooding do the boy meets girl routine where they’re interested in each other but also kind of awkward at the same time, it works because they’re so charming and makes you legit care for them in both romance and serial killer attack scenarios. 

            Speaking of which, the kills are over-the-top and creatively gory though not quite on the same caliber as something like Thanksgiving, but it has plenty of gloriously bloody moments such as someone’s head getting crushed in a wine press and a person being impaled through the mouth by getting slammed into a tire iron that was also just used to stab another person in the mouth. 

            The film is also quite funny at times without ever feeling out of place with a lot of the humor coming from characters’ reactions to Heart Eyes’ kills or just very well-timed witty dialogue. There’s this really funny bit where Holt and Gooding hide in a vehicle at a drive-in when Heart Eyes is trying to get them and there’s a clearly stoned couple making out in the back unaware that there’s a killer on the loose and a glorious take on the “You must run to him” cliché in which several romance movie titles are said that made me smile. 

            The Heart Eyes Killer character I can definitely see going down as a new horror movie icon that encompasses a lot of characteristics and traits of other classic slasher movie killers most notably Jason Voorhees, Michael Myers, and yes, even Ghostface from Scream. Heart Eyes does a lot of the same sort of things those slasher icons did while also having a few unique tricks of his/her own like having light up heart eyes that double as night vision goggles to catch the victims. 

            I will admit, I did catch on to who the Heart Eyes Killer turned out to be before the big reveal even happened. It didn’t ruin the movie for me, but as soon as they did the killer’s identity fake-out and another character reappears in the film, I called it pretty quickly. 

            Heart Eyes is bloody, romantic fun and follows in the footsteps of Black Christmas, Thanksgiving, and My Bloody Valentine as a new holiday slasher classic. It has gore, humor, and solid romantic leads, something for everyone on date night.