Engagements, spa dates and a night out at the movies — these elements may sound romantic to the average couple, but in the new horror film “Heart Eyes,” they are the hunting grounds for the Heart Eye Killer.
For the past two years, the Heart Eye Killer has traveled to a new city to find couples to slaughter in a massive killing spree on Valentine’s Day. This may seem like the worst scenario for couples, however for Ally (Olivia Holt) has recently been dumped and is being cancelled online for her recent ad campaign involving all of the star-crossed lovers dying together in the midst of the Heart Eye Killer’s murders.
The day just keeps getting worse for Ally as her boss hires Jay Simmons (Mason Gooding) to fix the failed campaign.
To help work on the campaign together, Jay invites Ally out to dinner at an expensive restaurant which, as you can imagine, is filled with couples. While leaving, Ally runs into her ex-boyfriend with his new girlfriend and, in a fit of jealousy, pulls Jay into a kiss. Unfortunately for the pair, a set of heart eyes mistakes them for a couple.
At this point, the movie turns from the sweet beginnings of a rom-com to the worst possible date to ever exist.
What I love about this movie is that it doesn’t stick to a specific genre. It feels like a perfect combination between a romantic comedy and a horror movie. Even during the fight sequences, Ally and Jay are still very cheesy with their banter, and it is clear that they are starting to like each other as more than friends. Cue knife slashes.
There was just enough chemistry between the two that if you hate rom-coms, you get satisfaction out of the death of a superficial couple, and if you hate horror, you still see a relationship blossom amidst the severed bodies.
Although the relationship is sweet, I can’t form an attachment to our main characters because the movie thrusts relationship archetypes onto Ally and Jay. Ally keeps sharing how she tends to run away from all opportunities of love presenting itself, while Jay puts the wrong people on the highest pedestal. As much as I like the vulnerability they share with each other, the movie makes it hard to empathize with their relationship during the horrific events they’re experiencing.
My biggest takeaway from “Heart Eyes” would have to be the combat scenes. In the end, when Ally confronts the Heart Eye Killer after they kidnap Jay, I was fascinated by the effects used between the shooting of arrows, stabbings with a metal straw and, finally, a decapitation provided by the sword of a statue depicting Saint Valentine’s own decapitation.
As Valentine’s Day ends, Ally and Jay persevere through the night and their own personal struggles and become a power couple in their personal advertising and true crime worlds, and in the rom com and horror genres.
In commemorating the spirit of love, don’t take your significant other to a movie about a serial killer who kills couples, but in the spirit of entertainment, you must tune in.
