A masked killer stalks young couples in Seattle on Valentine’s Day in Heart Eyes, which hit US cinemas back in February but premieres in Prague from May 8. Despite the derivative nature of the story—this one owes a large debt to the Scream franchise, and especially the past couple entries—a heavy dose of wink-wink comedy, over-the-top gore effects, and a pair of appealing lead performances help make it a lot of fun, even if the horror elements are largely undercut.
Heart Eyes stars Olivia Holt (Cruel Summer) as Ally McCabe, a cynical marketing executive nursing a broken heart, and Mason Gooding (Scream and Scream VI) as Jay Simmonds, a hopeless romantic from New York she shares a meet-cute with at the local coffee shop. But just as the prospect of romance enters Ally’s heart, Jay is revealed to be the sharp advertising consultant tasked with helping her salvage a failing Valentine’s Day campaign.
As the two are thrown together professionally—and perhaps romantically—this Hallmark movie setup takes a twisted turn as a masked killer who appears every Valentine’s Day to brutally murder random couples has set up shop in Seattle this year. Lest we forget what kind of movie this is, a particularly gruesome cold-open has the killer dispose of a victim in a vineyard’s fermentation vat, a gory showstopper the rest of the film never quite tops.
Ally and Jay’s budding relationship puts them squarely in the crosshairs of the Heart Eyes Killer, and what begins as a frothy workplace rom-com quickly turns into a fast-paced fight for survival. Taking a page from the Scream franchise, the identity of the killer becomes a central mystery, and even our dashing leading man falls under killer suspicion.
Heart Eyes has a lot of fun fusing two well-worn genres, and director Josh Ruben (Werewolves Within, Die Hart) stages scenes that wouldn’t be out of place in either a zippy rom-com or a grisly slasher flick, sometimes both at once. Even the film’s quieter moments, including the obligatory third-act fallout between the leads, are laced with ominous dread or sudden bursts of violence.
It’s this deft tonal balancing act that gives Heart Eyes its charm. While the horror never feels particularly scary—the killer feels more like a plot mechanic than a tangible threat—it delivers a satisfying blend of laughs and gore that should appeal to fans of both genres. The pace is brisk and the kills are often inventive, with enough visual flair to elevate the otherwise familiar material. The film isn’t afraid to embrace its own absurdity, but it never tips fully into parody.
Holt and Gooding are the glue that holds Heart Eyes together, crafting likable characters that meet the requirements of multiple genres. Holt’s Ally is guarded but relatable, with just enough vulnerability to keep the character grounded, while Gooding brings an engagingly softer touch to Jay. Together, they have terrific chemistry that has us rooting for these characters to stay together—and stay alive, while they’re at it.
Heart Eyes‘ screenplay, credited to Phillip Murphy, Christopher Landon (whose recent Drop similarly blended genres), and Michael Kennedy, walks a fine line between cleverness and cliché. It’s peppered with meta-commentary and genre-savvy gags, some of which land better than others. The whodunnit angle—clearly modeled after Scream—generates suspense in the early going but becomes increasingly implausible as the film races toward its climax. Once the killer is unmasked, the narrative loses steam, especially given how convoluted and coincidental the backstory turns out to be.
There’s also a tendency to insert manufactured drama between the leads, a page from the rom-com playbook that feels just a bit out of place during the climactic murder spree. A subplot involving two bumbling detectives (played by Jordana Brewster and Devon Sawa) offers some comic relief but also contributes to a tonal inconsistency that makes it harder to fully invest in the story’s darker beats.
Still, there’s more to like than not. The film’s production design and cinematography (from Atlanta‘s Stephen Murphy) lend it a glossy, stylized sheen, with neon lighting and soft-focus backdrops making the blood pop all the more. The death scenes are executed with gory creativity, and there’s a kind of twisted pleasure in seeing these familiar rom-com set-ups gruesomely turned inside out.
Heart Eyes doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but it gives it a stylish spin. With its sharp cast and energetic direction, this smart genre mashup is a fun if flawed Valentine’s Day slasher that knows exactly what it is—and doesn’t overstay its welcome. Holt and Gooding shine, the set pieces are a bloody blast, and even if the mystery fizzles, the movie earns its place as a worthy date night for horror fans and romantics alike.
