Ben Black, Devon Sawa, Gigi Zumbado, Heart Eyes, horror, Jordana Brewster, Josh Ruben, Karishma Grebneff, Latham Gaines, Lauren O'Hara, Mason Gooding, Michaela Watkins, movies, Olivia Holt, reviews
January 31, 2025
by Carla Hay

Directed by Josh Ruben
Culture Representation: Taking place mostly in Seattle, the horror comedy film “Heart Eyes” features a predominantly white cast of characters (with a few African Americans and Latin people) representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.
Culture Clash: A masked serial murderer, known as the Heart Eyes Killer, targets romantic couples to be murdered on Valentine’s Day.
Culture Audience: “Heart Eyes” will appeal mainly to people who like watching movies that are equal parts horror and comedy and can tolerate seeing a lot of bloody violence on screen.

Very gory and intentionally campy, “Heart Eyes” is filled with the types of pop culture references and absurd horror comedy expected from the filmmakers of the 2020s “Scream” movies. The showdown scene is long-winded, but the film’s pace is mostly snappy. “Heart Eyes” is occasionally too smug for its own good because the movie is not as clever as it thinks it is. However, “Heart Eyes” is watchable for anyone looking for a better-than-average horror comedy that pokes fun at slasher movies and romantic comedies.
Directed by Josh Ruben, “Heart Eyes” was written by Phillip Murphy, Christopher Landon and Michael Kennedy. “Heart Eyes” comes from several filmmakers who have made careers out of horror films. As a director, Ruben’s previous movie was the 2021 horror comedy “Werewolves Within.” Landon and Kennedy previously collaborated on the 2020 horror comedy “Freaky.” Landon wrote 2010’s “Paranormal Activity 2,” 2011’s “Paranormal Activity 3,” 2012’s “Paranormal Activity 4” and 2014’s “Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones,” as well as directed the latter film. Landon also wrote and directed 2017’s “Happy Death Day” and 2019’s “Happy Death Day 2 U.”
“Heart Eyes” producers Adam Hendricks and Greg Gilreath co-lead the Divide/Conquer production company, which has produced “Freaky,” 2023’s “M3GAN,” 2025’s “M3GAN 2.0” and 2023’s “Totally Killer.” “Heart Eyes” executive producer Gary Barber is the chairman/CEO of Spyglass Media Group, the production company behind the 2020s “Scream” movies.” Obviously, the filmmakers of “Heart Eyes” had a lot of inspiration for what’s in this movie.
“Heart Eyes” takes place in Seattle but the movie was actually filmed in New Zealand. The movie’s story happens during a wild 24-hour period on Valentine’s Day. The opening scene of “Heart Eyes” shows a man named Patrick proposing marriage to his girlfriend Adeline (played by Lauren O’Hara), outdoors at a winery. Patrick has arranged for a wedding photographer named Nico (played by Latham Gaines) to videorecord this proposal from a distance.
Someone else is watching from a distance: The Heart Eyes Killer (also known as HEK), a serial murderer who targets romantic couples on Valentine’s Day. Anyone who gets in the way could also become a murder victim. The Heart Eyes Killer wears all black, including a full black mask with hearts for eyes. The mask’s eyes can light up.
Needless to say, there’s a bloodbath at the winery, including one of the victims who gets crushed in a wine vat machine. The Seattle Police Department is now on alert that the Heart Eyes Killer is probably in the city. A TV news report mentions that the Heart Eyes Killer first struck two years ago, by murdering three couples in Boston. The killer’s next Valentine’s Day murder spree was a year later, when the killer massacred four couples in Philadelphia.
Two detectives from the Seattle Police Department arrive at the winery murder scene to investigate: Jeanine Shaw (played by Jordana Brewster) and Detective Zeke Hobbs (played by Devon Sawa) are cop partners who don’t really like each other. Hobbs is a sexist jerk who belittles bachelorette Jeanine because she looks for love on dating apps. “You need a real man,” Hobbs tells Shaw. The movie pokes fun of this Hobbs and Shaw duo because their names are the same as the “Fast & Furious” franchise characters Hobbs and Shaw, who had their own namesake 2019 spinoff movie.
Meanwhile, marketing executive Ally McCabe (played by Olivia Holt) is in a slump in her work life and in her personal life. She’s heartbroken by a recent breakup with her ex-boyfriend Collin (played by Ben Black), who has already moved on to a new girlfriend. Ally works for a company named Crystal Cane Jewelry, led by founder Crystal Cane (played by Michaela Watkins), who is a demanding and prickly boss. Ally has a marketing proposal (tragic romantic deaths) that’s such a huge flop with Crystal, Ally is certain that she will get fired.
On the way to work, Ally and her sassy best friend/co-worker Monica (played by Gigi Zumbado) stop at a coffee shop, where Ally has a “meet cute” moment with a handsome stranger named Jay Simmonds (played by Mason Gooding), who orders the exact same type of coffee as Ally. Jay and Ally have an instant attraction to each other, but Ally tries to hide her attraction and is embarrassed when she and Jay accidentally bump their heads together. Monica (who brags to Ally about dating a sugar daddy) thinks that Ally should jump back into the dating pool, but Ally doesn’t feel ready yet.
At a Crystal Cane Jewelry staff meeting in a conference room, Ally is humiliated when Crystal (who has a heavy Southern accent) rips into Ally for Ally’s admittedly depressing marketing campaign idea. Crystal announces that she’s hired a freelance consultant to help come up with a better marketing campaign. The nickname for this marketing guru is Consumer Cupid. And in walks Jay Simmonds.
Ally is mortified and feels more than a little threatened because she thinks that Jay could replace her on the job. Jay privately assures her that he’s only been hired on a temporary basis. In fact, he says that he has take plane trip the next day to go to his best friend’s wedding. After some back-and-forth conversation, Jay convinces a reluctant Ally to have dinner with him that evening. Ally insists that the dinner won’t be a date but will be a business meeting.
The dinner starts off awkwardly because Jay is late. Jay tries to flirt with Ally, but she tells him she’s not interested. Jay quickly figures out that Ally’s rejected marketing campaign idea was cynical and depressing because she’s recently been heartbroken. Ally doesn’t deny it and says she thinks romance is “a farce.”
Outside the restaurant, when Ally and Jay are leaving, they see Collin with his new girlfriend Sienna (played by Karishma Grebneff), who are about to enter the restaurant. They stop and have a conversation with each other. Ally gets jealous that Collin and Sienna seem to be in love and very happy together, so Ally spontaneously pretends that Jay is her new boyfriend. Ally gives Jay a long romantic kiss to “prove” they’re in a relationship.
Unbeknownst to Ally and Jay at the time, the Heart Eyes Killer sees Ally and Jay kissing and decides that Ally and Jay will be the next murder victims. The rest of the movie shows Ally and Jay trying to escape, as the killer goes on a rampage. The movie eventually reveals who’s responsible for the murders.
“Heart Eyes” has a very “Scream” movie tendency of people doing a lot of talking and explaining in the showdown scene instead of actually doing what would happen in real life: killing an opponent as quickly as possible. The movie has a lot of fun skewering romantic comedies and rom-com clichés, such as a race to the airport to confess true feelings before a loved one gets on a plane. This satirical tone makes “Heart Eyes” more enjoyable to watch than a horror comedy that plays it too safe with its jokes.
“Heart Eyes” has some comedy that gets somewhat repetitive (Ally is very squeamish when she sees blood), but the action scenes deliver the right amount of adrenaline that should satisfy horror fans. This is the type of movie where the characters crack jokes while being chased by the killer. It’s obvious that the filmmakers want the Heart Eyes Killer to be as iconic as the Ghostface Killer from the “Scream” movies.
Holt and Gooding are an engaging duo who are more convincing in the terror scenes than in the romantic scenes. Many of the other characters are comedic stereotypes or not in the movie long enough to make a lasting impression. “Heart Eyes” is not for overly squeamish viewers, but it delivers the expected gruesome scares along with some well-earned laughs.
Screen Gems will release “Heart Eyes” in U.S. cinemas on February 7, 2025.