Heart Eyes

Directed by Josh Ruben, Heart Eyes follows a pair of coworkers (Olivia Holt’s Ally and Mason Gooding’s Jay) as they’re stalked by a serial killer who only targets couples. It’s a fun premise that is, for the most part, employed to underwhelming and, eventually, tedious effect by Ruben, as the filmmaker, armed with a screenplay by Phillip Murphy, Christopher Landon, and Michael Kennedy, delivers a smug, overly slick endeavor that works as neither a slasher picture nor a romcom – with, in terms of the latter, the hopeless lack of chemistry between Holt and Gooding’s respective characters making it impossible to muster up much interest in Ally and Jay’s increasingly perilous exploits. Far more problematic, however, is Heart Eyes‘ proliferation of unappealing, overly self-referential elements, with this particularly true of the recurring attempts at satirizing the romantic-comedy genre (eg a supporting figure rattles off the names of several well-known romcoms during an inspirational speech to Ally) – which, when coupled with an absolutely endless third act (ie this is absolutely not a story that requires a drawn-out, Scream-like bad-guy reveal), confirms the film’s place as a mostly misguided mashup that wears out its welcome right from the outset.

*1/2 out of ****