Heart Eyes (Josh Ruben, 2025)
When the release of Heart Eyes was initially announced, I couldn't help but be interested in what three filmmakers who clearly have such a love and respect for horror (slashers particularly) and rom-coms could put together. Though their combined filmography is a mixed bag, for me personally, I was still interested in what they would produce together. In their combined filmography, there are a few that have become comfort films I've seen a number of times, some I might not necessarily choose to watch again, but would happily sit through with someone who hadn't seen them, and one or two I don't have any need to see again.
It's also clear this mix of sensibilities and perspectives is why Heart Eyes, a Valentine's Day themed melding of rom-com and slasher is generally successful. Josh Ruben, Heart Eyes director, has directed and starred in Scare Me, a sly mix of meditation on storytelling, and gender norms, told through a minimalist, single location horror comedy, that also flirts with will they/won't they tropes. He went on to star in A Wounded Fawn, a film also interested in gender norms, but this time, told through the employment of characters of Greek myth, wrapped in a surprising, surreal, psychedelic serial killer film. He came back to the horror comedy with the surprisingly good, smartly executed adaptation of the video game Werewolves Within, a film playing with the conventions of the rom-com and the who-done-it, using a werewolf as it's MacGuffin.
One of the writers, Christopher Landon, became one of the primary architects of the Paranormal Activity franchise, after its initial installment. Despite genre fans writing it off as a franchise of empty cash grabs, Landon never failed to weave in interesting themes related to the domestic space, family, gender, marginalized identity and the meaning of community as the franchise progressed. Personally, I respect the first three Paranormal Activity films for their example in storytelling within the parameters of a trilogy. They get dinged critically for rehashing similar scares, but on a storytelling basis, Landon found interesting ways to expand or re-evaluate themes and ideas as it progressed. Those first three films end up presenting an interesting story of ambition and greed (mixed with questions about gender), that ends up haunting a family over three generations. It's not an easy thing to do, and I think, in a found footage/first person POV, even harder.
Landon also directed Happy Death Day, a mash up of Groundhog Day, slasher and coming of age rom-com, as well as writing it's sequel, Happy Death Day 2 U, which takes all that and throws in a healthy dose of science fiction. He'd also go on to direct and co-write Freaky (partnering with Michael Kennedy, one of the other writers of Heart Eyes), which is a mix of body swap comedy and slasher film, taking its name from it's relationship to Freaky Friday.
Michael Kennedy penned, It's A Wonderful Knife, a Christmas set slasher comedy riffing on (if you couldn't tell), It's A Wonderful Life, and co-wrote Freaky.
What this adds up to in Heart Eyes is a fun, fast paced film, as much homage, tribute and satire as it is an entry in both the rom com and slasher sub genres. There is a Scream like quality to how well it understands the sub genres and films it's paying tribute to, while placing itself in them, but unlike Scream, it doesn't have much of a commentary to make on them. It's content to wear it's love for them on its sleeve and reach for the kind of light, airy entertainment both sub genres can so well embody. Everyone behind the camera knows the assignment, and everyone in front shows up to insure it's fulfilled.
Mainly, this means leads Olivia Holt and Mason Gooding, who have great chemistry and are clearly game for the mixture of running scared, fighting off a serial killer, and giving authenticity to the tropes of the rom com. The meet cute moment is such an important piece of a rom com succeeding, and these two sell it extremely well. Gooding does a great job with Jay Simmons, a confident, forthright character that never feels smarmy or arrogant, and is also sensitive, self aware and emotionally mature. I appreciate seeing male characters being decent human beings in their relationships with female characters, as much as I appreciate and embrace films about the feminine rage patriarchal norms and terrible men bring about.
Holt plays Ally McCabe, a young woman whose feelings about her most recent break up are causing her troubles in her career as a marketing/advertising person for a jewelry company. Her distrust and disappointment with the tropes of romance, so much a part of rom coms and Valentine's Day (the day Heart Eyes takes place) never feels like cynicism forced into a character to insure it would hold a feature length run time. Heart Eyes does us, the audience, the service of not asking us to watch one decent person decide to become romantically involved with someone who we recognize would be terrible outside the perspective and world of the film itself.
The one thing Heart Eyes fails to capitalize on is the whodunit aspect of the story. Ultimately, the answer has little to no bearing on the story or the protagonists, and the reveal lacks impact as a result. The film is focused on other aspects of the slasher and rom com being successful, and for the most part, does that quite well. As I mentioned already, the meet cute works well, as do the scenes of Ally and Jay along the rest of their rom com journey. The set pieces, taken from the slasher genre, are well thought through and fun, and it's clear the Ruben and the rest of the filmmaking team understand the art of practical effects is part of the draw and charm of the slasher. The kills and the effects are gory, creative and are shot really well. That marriage of well designed effects, and shooting them well, is a hard one to make work, but Ruben and company certainly do it here.
The quality of the rest of the film is what highlights the reveal of the killer's identity as a missed opportunity to give the film more overall impact. This isn't to say the ending isn't fun, because the cast is clearly having a great time with what they are given, and that is still fun to watch. It's more that it's the one thing that does stand out a missed opportunity to make the film more memorable and give the experience a little more depth.
All in all, I do think Heart Eyes has enough to offer, in the form of comedy, creative kills and charismatic leads, to make it a film I'll revisit regularly around Valentine's Day.