Released in theaters on Feb. 7, “Heart Eyes,” directed by Josh Ruben, is a romantically thrilling take on a classic slasher film. The Heart Eyes Killer targets unsuspecting couples on Valentine’s Day, terrorizing and murdering them in unique and cruel ways. It revolves around Ally (Olivia Holt), a hopeless romantic on the verge of losing her job, forced to work alongside Valentine’s Day enthusiast Jay (Mason Gooding), naturally, the same night the Heart Eyes Killer is on the loose.
Despite the gory nature of the film, “Heart Eyes” has a classic rom-com type of feel that sometimes comes off a little juvenile at times. The film explores different kinds of relationships on Valentine’s Day, which is a fun idea in theory, but I would’ve loved to have seen Ruben dive even deeper into that theme. The two main love interests, Ally and Jay, offer many classic romance tropes, such as office romance, grumpy and sunshine, enemies to lovers and partners in crime. I thought that the inclusion of these classic rom-com tropes was a fun way to allude to iconic love stories traditionally enjoyed on Valentine’s Day. However, to me, the contrast between the romance and horror did feel a little out of place at times. With the inclusion of both storylines, I felt myself losing interest in whichever plot wasn’t currently being shown.
The overall aesthetic of the movie was spot on, capturing a perfect mix of the classic slasher feel with a lovey-dovey Valentine’s aesthetic. There are some super fun kill scenes taking place in traditional romantic settings, such as a drive-in movie, a Valentine’s Day festival, a romantic vineyard, a candlelit barn and my personal favorite of the kill scenes, a carnival. The set design was probably one of my favorite elements of the film. The kitschy, romantic theme they all possessed really helped set the mood for the eerie, romantic theme of the movie.
I went into the film not quite sure what to expect as far as horror and romance goes, but what I did not anticipate was the amount of comedy that was included. In fact, I might even go as far as to say that the comedic elements of the movie almost seemed more prevalent than any other genre advertised. Even during the most suspenseful moments, Ruben made sure to include comedic one-liners and pauses for comedic relief. For the jokes themselves, they mainly consisted of pretty mainstream humor, a lot of slapstick jokes and innuendos. There were a couple of moments that stuck out to me as being pretty funny, but for the most part I found a lot of the humor to be a little outdated and even somewhat cringe at times, but considering that I felt that way about many aspects of the movie, that type of humor was only fitting.
Although I thought “Heart Eyes” was an entertaining and timely film to enjoy with your friends this Valentine’s season, as far as actual cinematography, plot and horror go, the film fell a little bit flat. There were a couple of suspenseful scenes and definitely a heavy amount of blood, but the actual fear I felt while watching the movie was pretty minimal, which I was a little disappointed about. There were some elements of mystery incorporated, which I enjoyed, but the actual story itself felt pretty predictable. If you are just looking for a fun, bloody and romantically heart-racing film this holiday, “Heart Eyes” is just the thing.
“Heart Eyes:” ★★★☆☆
