Going into Heart Eyes (2025) with zero expectations, bracing for a campy, eye-roll-worthy horror romp with all the ingredients of a silly slasher (after all, a killer prowling in a glowing, heart-eyed mask sounds like something ripped from a terrible B-movie), you’d expect the worst. But hold onto your hearts, because those assumptions couldn’t be further from the truth: this Valentine’s Day bloodbath defies every low expectation and impresses across the board.
It’s Valentine’s Day in Heart Eyes, and the spotlight falls on Ally (Olivia Holt), a marketing executive who suddenly finds herself on shaky ground, professionally speaking, that is. She’s poured her heart and soul into a daring jewelry campaign meant to dazzle, but instead, it turns into a catastrophic misfire: blood-soaked visuals and grim death scenes clash violently with the holiday’s saccharine glow of love. Her no-nonsense boss, Crystal (Michaela Watkins), tears into her, leaving Ally’s professional dreams on the chopping block.
As if Ally’s career implosion wasn’t bad enough, the chaos escalates when the infamous Heart Eyes Killer begins striking dangerously close to home, painting the heart of Seattle, the city at the center of the movie, with blood.
Slashers live or die by their villain, and this movie hits the jackpot with its heart-eyed horror show. The antagonist delivers in spades, doing much of the heavy lifting and making things a whole lot easier for the rest of the cast.
Fans of Final Destination will perk up at the inclusion of Devon Sawa, the guy who famously cheated death on that doomed flight. This time, he’s suited up as Detective Hobbs, teaming up with Detective Jeanine Shaw (Jordana Brewster) on a task force hunting down the masked menace terrorizing the city. Unfortunately, the role isn’t much to write home about, it feels like one of those performances where the actor was flown in for a few hours, shot a couple of scenes, and dipped. Honestly, that might be for the best, as his overly distracting performance took away from the movie rather than adding to it.
But let’s shove the side characters aside, this is really about Ally and Jay (Mason Gooding). A dynamic duo thrown together in a desperate bid to salvage Ally’s PR trainwreck. Jay, a smooth-talking fixer brought in as the company’s last hope, teams up with Ally on Valentine’s Day, of all days, to douse the flames of her career-killing campaign. Time’s ticking, the pressure’s on, and the killer has a sick penchant for carving up couples, making their forced partnership feel like a blood-red target painted on their backs.
Give Heart Eyes a bloody valentine for crafting Ally and Jay as characters you genuinely root for, no small feat in a slasher flick. Whether they’re dodging the killer or trading quips under pressure, their chemistry lights up the screen, making it an effortlessly enjoyable watch.
The big question looming over the movie was whether its humor would undercut the horror or give it an edge. Early on, a few over-the-top gags had us squirming, muttering under our breath, “Reel it in, reel it in.” But in other moments, the humor didn’t detract, in fact, it blended surprisingly well with most scenes and complemented the movie’s overall tone.
On the subject of tone, if we could reshape one detail of the movie, it would be to give it a grittier, more somber atmosphere to better mirror the killer’s raw menace. Far from a cookie-cutter villain, the killer carves up victims with vicious, theatrical gusto, and the kills are executed in undeniably entertaining fashion.
Despite a few minor scuffs, Heart Eyes is a fun and effective slasher, bolstered by a variety of great locations and scenes, including an electrifying drive-in theater massacre that ranks among horror’s finest moments. Buckle up for a gory, joyous ride!