Heart Eyes (2025)
Directed by: Josh Rubin
Premise: A pair of coworkers (Mason Gooding and Olivia Holt) are pursued by a serial killer who stalks and kills couples of Valentine’s Day.
What Works: Heart Eyes brings together horror and romance and the combination works well. The movie derives from the slasher horror of the 1980s and the romantic comedies of the 1990s and the filmmakers combine the tropes of both genres. We get the requisite stalk and slash scenarios but Heart Eyes also includes the meet cute of the romantic comedy. Romances require a couple who the audience wants to see get together and a credible obstacle keeping them from living happily ever after. The murderous threat of the killer is a sufficient obstacle but what really makes Heart Eyes work is the casting of actors Mason Gooding and Olivia Holt. Their romantic chemistry is palpable and Gooding and Holt are a fun couple to watch. Their banter includes a lot of humor that the actors deliver well. The comedy is mostly in the romantic portions of the story; the jokes don’t undermine the horror but there is a self-awareness to Heart Eyes that is reminiscent of the Scream films. Horror fans ought to appreciate the homages to earlier movies. The scary portions of Heart Eyes are often quite frightening and there are a few tense set pieces. This is primarily a horror picture and the stalk and kill scenes are ruthless and vicious. Horror films and romantic comedies are traditionally popular date movies and the marriage of romance and horror works well in a calculated way that makes Heart Eyes a successful piece of entertainment.
What Doesn’t: The pacing tends to be spasmodic. Heart Eyes establishes some momentum either as a romance or a horror picture and then it stops to switch gears, picks up again, and then stops. The romantic and horror portions feel siloed from one another instead of integrated into a coherent whole. Like a lot of slasher movies, Heart Eyes culminates in a big reveal in which the identity and motives of the killer are unveiled. This ends up being a letdown. The reveal is a bit stupid and doesn’t make much sense. The reveal comes pretty late into the movie and this moment doesn’t ruin Heart Eyes but it does diminish the impact of the ending.
Bottom Line: Heart Eyes successfully combines romance and horror in a piece of popcorn entertainment. It struggles with the pacing but the film is a lot of fun with scary thrills, humor, and an appealing romance.
Episode: #1036 (February 23, 2025)