Heart Eyes – Film Review

Director – Josh Ruben
Writers – Phillip Murphy, Christopher Landon, Michael Kennedy
Stars – Alex Walker, Lauren O’Hara, Latham Gaines

If you were to think of unlikely genres to combine, the top of the list would be a rom-com/ horror crossover! Those Hollywood writers and executives no doubt had a similar discussion when they came up with Heart Eyes. Yes, it’s the story of a boy meets girl meets serial killer that the world didn’t know it needed!

The Heart Eyes Killer or HEK to friends is about to start another rampage. He’s already completed two previous killing sprees on Valentine’s Day and is about to start his third on the unsuspecting residents of Seattle. We meet Ally (Olivia Holt) who works in an advertising agency. Her ‘meet-cute‘ with Jay (Mason Gooding) happens as they both order a ridiculous-sounding coffee and their orders get confused. Ally has a big meeting at work and is worried about losing her job, as an out-of-town executive has flown in to save an account. The funny thing is, when the executive is introduced, it turns out to be Jay! If this was a typical rom-com you’d already be reaching for the remote, but this film does have a few other elements to save it from a descent into schmaltz. The young couple head out of a business dinner (on Valentine’s Night) to come up with a concept for the advertising campaign, and that’s where they meet the killer with two heart-shaped eyes! After that, there’s a lot of running around and shouting.

This film owes a lot to the Scream franchise and even has Mason Gooding, who starred in the last two Scream movies! The ending is straight out of the Scream handbook and does feel a little derivative. The film is quite self-knowing and often played for laughs. There is one scene where a character incorporates the names of every major rom-com from the last 10 years into her speech. There are a few surprises along the way and it deserves credit for having an unusual concept, but the main problem is the writing isn’t good enough to make it into something special. If you can’t face the next installment of Bridget Jones, this will fill a gap but don’t expect too much from his rom-com/ horror hybrid!