Heart Eyes

Amid the various horror subgenres popular today—elevated, cosmic, body, AI-dread, found footage, and folk, among others—is a strain of slasher mash-ups that fold a bloody scenario into an otherwise lighthearted genre. It’s a mostly enjoyable trend with examples such as the body-swap comedy (Freaky, 2020), the Groundhog Day scenario (Happy Death Day, 2017), and the teen time-travel adventure (Totally Killer, 2023). Heart Eyes blends a romantic comedy with a grisly slasher, spinning a yarn about a masked maniac who targets couples in love on Valentine’s Day. While there have been body count movies about masked killers who spoil the romantic mood of this Hallmark holiday before—see either version of My Bloody Valentine (1981, 2009) or Valentine (2001)—none have also been a worthwhile rom-com at the same time. Heart Eyes is a rare exception and a welcome refresh of these well-worn genres. 

Much credit for Heart Eyes belongs to the screenplay, credited to Phillip Murphy (Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard, 2021), Christopher Landon (the Paranormal Activity sequels), and Michael Kennedy (It’s a Wonderful Knife, 2024). Their script finds harmony between the tropes in both genres, seamlessly blending the expected story beats together. The first scene unfolds at a staged marriage proposal at a winery, where the resident slasher uses a crossbow, machete, and throwing daggers on the couple. Authorities call the culprit the Heart Eyes Killer for the heart-shaped eyes on the murderer’s mask, but I missed how media outlets know about the mask, since “HEK” doesn’t leave survivors. In any event, after establishing the threat, the writers introduce our leads in an adorable meet-cute that would feel at home in a Nora Ephron movie.  

Even more credit for Heart Eyes’ success belongs to Olivia Holt and Mason Gooding, the romantic leads with the essential component every romantic comedy needs: chemistry. Holt plays Ally, a romance-averse marketing guru for a jewelry company whose boss (Michaela Watkins) is upset about her Valentine’s Day campaign about great doomed lovers, which is ill-timed with HEK’s arrival in Seattle after murderous stints in Philadelphia and Boston. Enter Gooding’s Jay, a consultant and romantic hired to triage the campaign. When they both have the same elaborate coffee order, sparks fly—until Ally realizes that Jay has been hired to fix her mistake. From the rom-com playbook, Ally also has a best friend with attitude (Gigi Zumbado), who encourages Ally to get over her ex-boyfriend and let Jay melt her icy heart.  

Although Ally and Jay keep things mostly professional, both HEK and the audience can see they’re a good match despite their insistence: “We’re not together.” So even though the killer only targets couples, Ally and Jay remain in the murderer’s crosshairs. Meanwhile, a pair of swaggering cops, Det. Hobbs (Devon Sawa) and Det. Shaw (Jordana Brewster), seeks clues to catch this “incel virgin troll still living in mommy’s basement.” Armed with red night-vision goggles and a small arsenal, the relentless killer mercilessly slays anyone in their way. Heart Eyes is a particularly gory viewing, with smashed bodies, copious blood and guts, and a high body count. While the obvious influence here is the Scream franchise, complete with twists and a Scooby-Doo finale, the filmmakers have turned up the bloodshed for today’s most intense horror fans. Directed by Josh Ruben, Heart Eyes may be particularly nasty at times, but the movie never loses its sense of humor or handle on the central romance, making the gore at once a punchline and a shock. 

Much as he did with the delightful Werewolves Within (2021), Ruben manages to instill genuine scares while keeping the material lighthearted and full of laughs, even making several conversations between Ally and Jay endearing, further establishing their undeniable romantic tension. Shot by Stephen Murphy and edited by Brett W. Bachman, the movie is visually dark but always cohesive and clear, allowing the story to carry us along with the help of Jay Wadley’s excellent score. Doubtless, some studio executives recognized that Heart Eyes is perfectly engineered for couples, checking stereotypical boxes with romance for her and horror thrills for him—though that’s a narrow view. Moviegoers cannot be so easily categorized or placed into demographic boxes. A movie like Heart Eyes shows that tastes overlap, and when they do, there’s plenty of fun to be had.