It’s very nice to see Josh Ruben get the wide-release, big-screen treatment with Heart Eyes. He’s more than earned it. The multi-hyphenate filmmaker has built a reputation for blending horror and comedy with a sharp, self-aware edge, as seen in two previous features Scare Me and Werewolves Within. With Heart Eyes, a romantic comedy slasher, he gets his biggest stage yet, backed by a screenplay from some of the genre’s most experienced and irreverent voices: Christopher Landon (Happy Death Day, Freaky, and the upcoming Drop), Michael Kennedy (It’s a Wonderful Knife, Time Cut), and Phillip Murphy (Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard).
It’s a slasher that revels in the holiday-gone-wrong tradition, packed with brutal kills, a whodunit-ish structure, and some solid performances. It doesn’t quite hit the highs of its creative team’s previous efforts, suffering from uneven humor and a third act that loses momentum, but it’s a fun enough slasher with a unique holiday angle.
The premise is straightforward but ripe for slasher mayhem. A masked murderer known as the Heart Eyes Killer (or HEK) is terrorizing couples in increasingly gruesome ways every Valentine’s Day. Machetes, crossbows, throwing knives emblazoned with hearts - HEK has a signature, and it’s effective. The film follows Ally (Olivia Holt), a talented but jaded advertising professional whose latest jewelry campaign has been torpedoed by the string of love-themed murders. With Valentine’s Day looming, Ally is forced to navigate a mix of workplace drama, personal heartbreak, and the lurking presence of a serial killer with a grudge against romance.
The supporting cast brings a lot of personality to the film, with Gigi Zumbado as Ally’s best friend Monica stealing a couple of scenes, Michaela Watkins as their hilariously peeved boss, and Jordana Brewster and Devon Sawa playing the tropey detectives trying to crack the case. Brewster’s Detective Shaw is particularly compelling - her performance is layered with a level of unpredictability that keeps her character intriguing throughout. Meanwhile, Mason Gooding, no stranger to modern slashers thanks to his roles in Scream (2022) and its sequel, plays Ally’s romantic interest Jay, a hopeless romantic whose persistent nature sometimes comes across more like a red flag than a charming trait. While Gooding has obvious charisma, Jay’s character is all over the place, and the film’s attempts to make him more dynamic through sarcastic quips halfway through don’t quite land.
Where Heart Eyes shines is in its stylistic flourishes. Ruben and cinematographer Stephen Murphy (Atlanta, Mr. & Mrs. Smith) craft some impressive sequences, particularly a pivotal set piece at a drive-in theater showing the 1940 classic His Girl Friday. Set against the shimmer of the black-and-white motion picture reflecting off the cars' various surfaces, it's a visually arresting, suspenseful, and gleefully over-the-top moment that stands as the film’s high point. Ruben knows it, too - he even sneaks in a brief cameo during the sequence. The film’s pacing is solid for most of its runtime, but the final act suffers from the all-too-common slasher pitfall of drawing things out unnecessarily. HEK, previously depicted as a ruthless and efficient killer, suddenly starts stalling, making for a climax that lacks the tension and energy the film had built up.
As a horror-comedy, Heart Eyes can sometimes struggle to balance its tones. The best moments come from the minor characters who fully embrace the absurdity of the premise. Some of the goofiest gags are laugh-out-loud funny, but the film unfortunately doesn’t maintain that level of commitment to its humor. And unlike Ruben’s previous films, which had clear thematic throughlines beyond the horror, Heart Eyes feels thematically thinner; its takes on love and romance a bit basic by its end. It’s also impossible to ignore the Scream comparisons - while all slashers borrow from the genre’s past, Heart Eyes doesn’t bring enough fresh ideas to set itself apart.
The kills themselves are gleefully brutal, delivering the kind of gore that more bloodthirsty fans will appreciate. However, the impact is dulled by the film’s struggle to fully embrace its comedic potential. The best horror-comedies understand that their over-the-top violence should match their humor, but Heart Eyes pulls back just enough on the jokes that the brutality ends up feeling somewhat out of sync.
Ultimately, Heart Eyes is a fun but inconsistent ride. There’s enough here to entertain slasher aficionados, and Ruben’s direction keeps things visually engaging even when the script falters. It may not hit the highs of similar films, but it’s another solid entry in the growing lineup of specified holiday horror films. While it might not be a love-at-first-sight kind of movie, there’s still enough charm in its carnage to make it worth a watch.
'Heart Eyes' is now playing in theaters.
