Heart Eyes
directed by Josh Ruben (2025)
Rated R for cussin, violence, gore and the like
For fans of romantic comedies, slashers, and most importantly, love.
My rating: Genre Smash – I think this movie fits a lot of different ‘ratings’ in the system I make up- Date Night Delight, Kill! Kill! Kill! to name a few-but its most impressive quality is its ability to be both a funny and charming romantic comedy and a brutal slasher. Note for those who may be interested but may not love horror: there is not a ton of tension or terror, but there is a generous amount of blood/gore and violence, so maybe be prepared to cover your eyes?
Some thoughts: It truly is impressive the way this film manages to be a legitimate rom-com while also showing a human head explode in the opening five minutes. The premise of the movie is that a serial killer has murdered multiple couples on the previous two Valentine’s Days and has descended on the city in which our final girl, Ally, lives and works. As far as the slasher element of the movies goes, it uses suspense/surprise lightly and gruesome murder heavily. Beyond that, though, it has all the classic elements of an early 2000s rom-com. We’ve got a coffee shop meet cute, fashion montage with best friend, and of course the classic-pretending to be a couple to make an ex jealous, but then the serial killer who only targets couples mistakes your ‘fake’ kiss as a real kiss and then ruthlessly pursues you with murderous intent.
As a production company (or a band that writes novels) named after the adjectives bestowed upon Millennials, it seems like I should point out that this film does really hit for our generation. Not only is it a rom-com in the spirit of the late 90s/early 00s, but it has an “Amazed” by Lonestar needle drop followed closely by “Pony” by Ginuwine. This happens while an insufferable yuppie couple orchestrates a social media curated proposal. An act of my generation so heinous, we actively cheer as they die.