Something weird is going on in 2025. And I’m not talking about the constant soul-crushing barrage of incomprehensibly depressing news stories that accompany everyday life. We had a better than usual January at the movies. There was no movie so bad that it made one question their love for going to the movies in the first place. In January, we always get at least two or three movies that really test me as a movie lover. And as we enter February, even the very generic looking slasher movies might have something to offer audiences? Today we’re going to talk about director Josh Ruben’s surprisingly fun Valentine’s Day slasher rom com Heart Eyes.

Open on present day Seattle, and it’s Valentine’s Day. For the past few years, a masked killer known as the Heart Eyes Killer, has terrorized couples in different cities on Valentine’s Day and everyone is wondering where the killer will strike next. After klutzy and adorable advertising director Ally (Olivia Holt) and the handsome and charming Jay (Mason Gooding), who’s up for the same promotion as Ally, have a situational PDA moment in public, they are mistaken for a couple and are targeted by the titular killer. They’re sent on a nightlong chase to save their own lives.

I’m not familiar with filmmaker Josh Ruben’s other work, but I am familiar with the work of co-screenwriter Christopher Landon. Landon has an unmistakable reputation within the horror genre, most notably the horror/comedy space. And you can feel his touch all over Heart Eyes, which is maybe why this thing works as well as it does. Landon has previously made the Happy Death Day movies, as well as 2020’s Freaky and the upcoming Drop. This screenplay, which is cowritten with Philip Murphy and Michael Kennedy (who has worked with Landon on other projects), is sharp, funny and well-paced. You definitely get the idea that we would never have gotten Heart Eyes without the Scream movies, and movies like them that have followed. And yet, this never feels like a cheap ripoff of something you’ve already seen. Heart Eyes is full of its own wacky, ridiculous ideas and is a lot of fun on its own.

Star Olivia Holt was a Disney Channel child star most recently seen in Amazon’s very fun Totally Killer, and she’s got charisma for days, and plays very well opposite the very charming Mason Gooding. Gooding is Hollywood royalty, as the son of Cuba Gooding Jr., who previously has done strong work in Hulu’s excellent Love, Victor as well as memorable work in the recent Scream sequels. The two have a winning chemistry and make the rom-com side of this feel believable, as you actually find yourself rooting for these two people to figure it out romantically for themselves, assuming they can survive the night of being hunted by a masked killer. 

In the supporting cast we have a very campy, very fun role for Michaela Watkins, who I was surprised to see here. Watkins plays Ally’s unsupportive and very demanding boss who has an insane southern accent and a ridiculous wig. Devon Sawa and Jordana Brewster star as a pair of ineffective detectives investigating the Heart Eyes Killer case. And Gigi Zumbado, an actress I had not seen before, stars as Ally’s best friend, and she has a fun comedic presence and is enjoyable to watch. 

Heart Eyes runs just about 90 minutes and never overstays its welcome and that’s a big part of why this works. A lot of movies like this tend to run close to or over two hours and you can see where they could have been trimmed. Josh Ruben seems to show a good understanding for pacing and never giving the viewer too much. Ruben also seems to really get the balance here of the romantic comedy and the slasher movie. Because Heart Eyes is decidedly both of these movies. As a romantic comedy, you’re rooting for these two lead characters to figure it out, but this is also a very intense race-against-the-clock slasher movie with the inventive and brutal kills you want from that kind of movie.

In conclusion, I’m still trying to figure out how Heart Eyes succeeds as well as it does. This looks like the kind of cheap, disposable entertainment released around a holiday, but it’s actually the kind of holiday horror release that might be revisited fondly in subsequent years. And I wouldn’t be surprised if this became a franchise with a bunch of sequels with new killers targeting new cities on Valentine’s Day. And if the writing and performances can stay on the same level, I say bring them on. Heart Eyes is a sharp, funny and tense horror rom-com that is a perfect fit for a trip to the movies this Valentine’s Day weekend.