Before I begin this rambly review, I must say one thing: I am not a movie buff. I’ve never seen Fight Club, I thought Saltburn was okay, and I never, ever cry when I watch Titanic. That being said, each of my favorite films falls into one of two genres: horror or romance.
So, naturally, when I saw the trailer for Heart Eyes, starring Olivia Holt and Mason Gooding, I was interested. I watched the two unsuspecting leads reach for the same coffee, their hands grazing at the fingertips as the song “Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You” played in the background. Initially, I worried that Heart Eyes would be just like Anyone But You, where all the elements of a successful story are there, yet it remains soulless.
But, when only a few more of the blissfully lovey-dovey seconds had passed and the two leads were suddenly face to face with a heart-eyed serial killer that targets couples on Valentine’s Day—I was hooked.
Although I was skeptical that the film would be able to pull off two cliché-heavy genres at once, I was pleasantly surprised to find that Heart Eyes was incredibly entertaining and, thankfully, did not regurgitate the predictable, conventional clichés I expected. Heart Eyes did genre-bending beautifully, taking the whole “love makes you crazy” trope to a whole new level.
While the leads spend most of the film trying to escape a crazed serial killer, who has stopped in their city for his annual murder spree, Holt and Gooding’s chemistry is amazing. They make it so that when the two take each other by the hand, look deeply into each other’s eyes, and pull a knife from a man’s throat—we believe in love again.
That is to say, the genres didn’t take anything away from each other. They worked together so well, in fact, that the absurdity that characterizes both the traditional cheesy romcom and the gutsy slasher practically confront each other. The result? A film with hilarious self-examination, familiar yet refreshing characters, a great plot, and plenty of jump scares.
Made by the same producers of the Scream franchise, Heart Eyes plays on its own self-aware storytelling in a way that is reminiscent of the 90’s classic. The effect in Heart Eyes, however, is twofold. Not only are viewers scoffing when the leads fall helplessly in love through the cheesiest of lines, they’re roaring when the leads are literally falling while trying to escape the heart-eyed killer.
Because the film plays with its own predictability, you never know what’s coming. To subvert or not subvert, that is the question of this film. As it turns out, love and guts work well together via the same sorcery behind all great opposite attractions—and while it’s utterly entertaining, I have no intention of diving into the psychology behind this one.
Watch Heart Eyes in theaters now!
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