HEART EYES (2025)

Horror comedies are immensely difficult to pull off, as they require a balancing act of genres that separately elicit laughter and trepidation, which, when combined together, can cause massive and frequent tonal whiplash. I’ve seen many films within this subgenre, and only a handful of films, in my opinion, have been successful, such as Arsenic and Old Lace (1944), House (1977), Scream (1996), American Psycho (2000), One Cut of the Dead (2017), and Beau is Afraid (2023).

The films within this subgenre that appeal to me most treat their comedy as satirical while primarily focusing on the severity of their horror, or the comedy is at the forefront while elements of horror accent it, with bits of it taking more prominence every now and then. Whenever I’ve seen films where the comedy and horror have equal footing, it always leads to disaster, but not with writer-director Josh Ruben’s latest film, Heart Eyes. Somehow, this slasher comedy miraculously finds a balance between the two juxtaposing genres, creating cinematic stability to hold its content in place, and it’s so confident in doing so that it provides a sample of what audiences are in store for at the beginning.

Ruben introduces his audience to two lovebirds in the midst of an engagement shoot, where its comedic material comes from the very thing it’s ridiculing and a slew of technical mishaps, only to be hit by apathetic brutality at the hands of the ‘Heart Eyes Killer’. By the end of this premarital slaughter, I was on board with whatever Ruben had to offer. As a film, Heart Eyes mocks the genre conventions and tropes from both slashers and romantic comedies, yet defies them simultaneously with moments of clever writing.

The humour is satirical at times, commenting on the sociocultural attitude of today, but only after spoofing a spontaneous moment of two people meeting because they ordered the same caffeinated concoction at a coffee shop moments before bumping their heads together when bending down to reach for something, à la a Hallmark film, which is ironic considering Hallmark is solely responsible for how modern society celebrates Valentine’s Day.

In a way, Heart Eyes feels like an elongated comedy sketch, which is fitting considering Ruben was one of the founders of CollegeHumor’s “Originals” department and has directed and acted in a plethora of comedy shorts. No wonder the film’s comedy feels so natural and fluid to what it presents itself to be. Too often have I experienced comedic material in films where it felt contrived and tacked on, as though to fill up space in place of anything more suitable that would take time to come up with, so seeing Heart Eyes excel in this department was an absolute treat, and that is thanks to Ruben’s prowess as a writer and the cast’s medium-specific prowess.

For the sort of film Heart Eyes sets itself out to be, its acting is both fitting and proficient. Ally (Olivia Holt) is an emotionally hurt and desperate individual whose attitude towards romance and monogamy is skewed due to the trauma of heartbreak—and the actress plays her really well. She bounces between obsessive and defensive without missing a beat and, in a moment’s notice, drops either or when a handsome hunk walks into the room. She’s a go-getter and a creative, working in advertising, yet is simultaneously a mess, as she apparently messes up her romances consistently, often lets potential romantic matches slip through her fingers, and treats her flat like her own personal landfill with clean clothes, empty pizza boxes, and a variety of other objects scattered all over.

Then there’s Jay Simmonds (Mason Gooding), Ally’s person of interest; Mr Tall, dark, and handsome, who just so happens to be well-built physically and extremely kind—the perfect dream boy. Funnily enough, this ideal individual has come to assist Ally after she dropped the ball with a recent idea pitch at her place of employment. Jay comes across as soft-spoken, charming, confident, elegant, sympathetic, empathetic, and understanding, yet knows when not to let these positive traits become a weakness. Mason does a great job portraying his respective role, too, and seamlessly works off Olivia’s proficiency as an actor, and vice versa, like a well-paced, rhythmically back-and-forth game of ping pong. Their skill doesn’t stop at playing roles that are imitations of ones found in romantic comedies, as they both portray the roles of distressed prey really well, too, once they are mistaken as a couple and become the obsession for the Heart Eyes Killer.

What enticed me to see Heart Eyes was its premise and the design of its titular serial killer. A masked murderer who once a year on Valentine’s Day ventures into the confines of a random city in America and goes on a compulsive massacre, decimating its city of romantic couples left and right. The Heart Eyes Killer’s design is reminiscent of giallo killers, sporting a coat, long sleeves, trousers, boots, leather gloves, and a mask to completely conceal their identity. Their attire is entirely black, but what differs between traditional giallo killer design and the Heart Eyes Killer is that the latter’s attire is of a more contemporary branch of minimalist streetwear fashion rather than the trenchant wearing, formal European style of fashion that is typical of a giallo killer. The Heart Eyes Killer’s mask differs as well.

Normally, the mask of a giallo killer is something simple, like smooth cloth material, often white (Blood and Black Lace) or black (most Dario Argento films), or a ski mask (Torso), or even a shop-bought plastic mask (Alice, Sweet Alice), but in Heart Eyes, the titular killer sports a mask that is elaborate in design, one that’s more in line with what a member from the band Slipknot would wear. The mask covers the killer’s whole head and looks as though it is comprised of dried, cracked flesh due to its colour, while its expression, one of heart-shaped eyes and a cartoonish smile, is indicative of the heart eyes emoji that every smart device keyboard in the world has. Its eyes are outlined in a metallic material of sorts and light up red when the killer wishes to see in the dark. The Heart Eyes Killer is also equipped with an assortment of weapons and gadgets, like some sort of masked vigilante; and when combined with their loud, heavy, yet slow stride, which adds to the tension of scenes where they stalk their next target, the killer becomes reminiscent of Matt Reeves’ portrayal of Batman: a minimalist and sleek, yet high-tech prowler of the night whose slow, foreboding presence strikes fear in the hearts of his targets. The one thing that I’ve always loved about slashers is the designs of their killers; no matter how elaborate or minimalist they are, their appearance becomes a visual extension of their personality and motivations, and the Heart Eyes Killer does exactly that and looks great, too.

It seems the film Heart Eyes sets out to be has it all: a balance between comedy and horror, proficient acting fitting its subgenre classification, and a visually appealing and brutally relentless killer. What’s not to like? Well, that balance between comedy and horror, which I said Ruben handled well earlier, starts to unravel in the latter half of the film until it completely falls apart in the last fifteen minutes, as Heart Eyes leans too heavily into imitation. When making a film designed to parody a specific work, series, genre, or combination of genres, one must be careful not to become the very thing it is trying to make fun of; otherwise, the film becomes the pot calling the kettle black.

Films in the Scream franchise post-Scream became guilty of this, as they modelled themselves after the horror film templates they’re ridiculing, such as the revenge sequel, the comedic third film, the contrived fourth film, the ‘requel’, and so on, that it begins to lose itself and becomes something I can’t tolerate. Heart Eyes slowly starts to fall into this practice, too, unravelling the tightness of its binding by leaning full tilt into genre criteria checkboxes, losing its confidence in doing its own thing naturally and falling into a template reminiscent of one found within the Scream franchise.

Worst of all, this falling into imitation occurs after what appeared to be a conclusion. I was sitting there, fulfilled with what I had just watched and ready for its ending, which, given that Heart Eyes is part romantic comedy, would have spoofed something from that genre, yet it continued, and by doing so, dragged as though it was carrying a cement block locked at its ankles. What occurs from here I would classify as filler, fat, and rubbish material unnecessarily tacked on for one last elaborate joke. It was unneeded, especially since the film felt as though it was about to end at the 80-minute mark. It makes me wonder if Ruben wrote Heart Eyes in this direction just so it could reach the 90-minute mark, as though there was a fear of it being any shorter, which, if you ask me, is an irrational fear, as there is nothing wrong with a film being less than 90-minutes. Hell, I’d even argue some films out there need to fix their pacing issues.

I was really enjoying Heart Eyes at first. Its balance between comedy and fear, while poking fun at genre conventions and character tropes, was well-executed, and the film exuded confidence doing so, while simultaneously marching to the beat of its own narrative drum. For a film of its genre classification, it was excellent, maybe even this generation’s Shaun of the Dead (2004), but for me, it just messes up at the end, as it does more than needed to tell a fulfilling story. Ever hear of the proverb “Too much of anything is bad…”? That’s Heart Eyes in a nutshell. I commend Ruben for his attempts at creating a film of this nature, as his prowess really shines here for the most part, but going forward he needs to take a few steps back, observe his work for a while, and then execute decisions, because as it stands, Heart Eyes gives me the impression that Ruben got lost in the maelstrom of his own creative process.

USA • NEW ZEALAND | 2025 | 97 MINUTES | COLOUR | ENGLISH

Cast & Crew

director: Josh Ruben.
writers: Philip Murphy, Christopher Landon & Michael Kennedy.
starring: Olivia Holt, Mason Gooding, Gigi Zumbado, Michaela Watkins, Devon Sawa & Jordana Brewster.