Heart Eyes is a film that I figured wouldn’t be an Oscar-winning blockbuster but knew from the trailer that it would be entertaining — and I was right. It had me laughing from beginning to end. What impressed me the most was the way the movie balanced its three genres: romance, horror, and comedy. In typical rom-com fashion, the film hits romantic beats like the meet-cute and the first kiss with humorous twists and one-liners. Then, before you can get too comfortable, H.E.K. appears and brings with him horrific gore and suspense all throughout the film.
The actor whose range best supported the film’s many genres was Gooding, who is known for Scream (2022) and Fall (2022). Since Jay is both a smooth-talking gentleman and a sarcastic drama queen, this role gave Gooding an opportunity to demonstrate his strength as an actor. Safe to say, Jay was my favourite character in the movie. Not only that, but Gooding quite literally poured his blood, sweat, and tears into the role. In an interview with The Kelly Clarkson Show, he described how an injury he had on set ended up making the final cut:
“I had lodged my left hand through the window … and as I’m getting sutures and fixed up on set, Josh the director comes up [and says], ‘Hey, it looks really cool. Can we use it in the movie?’”
While the characters in this film were endlessly entertaining, they were also examples of your classic infuriating horror movie characters. At one point, instead of running from H.E.K., Jay and Ally decide to stay put and gaze into each others’ eyes — a truly confusing decision that had me internally screaming. And why would someone ever think it would be a good idea to hide from a murderer inside of a working wine press? While decisions like these frustrated me, I will admit that they highlighted the movie’s comedic and campy nature, so maybe they’re a necessary evil.
In terms of the actual plot, Heart Eyes follows a formula that fans of the Scream franchise know all too well: creative and bloody murders by a masked foe followed by the grand reveal of the killer’s identity and motive, usually with a twist. While this formula has no doubt proved successful, I wish that Ruben had strayed further from it to make the film that much more original.
Nevertheless, the multiple genres of this movie perfectly encapsulate the amusement and fear that can be felt at the beginning of a new relationship. Represented through both a masked killer and Ally’s own fear of commitment, Heart Eyes encourages viewers to remain open to love.
