Slasher fans have certainly been treated to some inventive twists on the formula in recent years. The best modern example remains Happy Death Day, with its Groundhog Day-inspired premise, but we’ve also had some genuinely fun experiments: Time Cut (slasher + time travel), In a Violent Nature (slasher from the killer’s perspective), Fear Street (a slasher trilogy spanning different eras), and Freaky (slasher + body swap). Heart Eyes joins this list with another creative genre mashup: slasher + rom-com.
Co-written by Christopher Landon (the writer-director behind Happy Death Day and Freaky), the film follows Ally (Olivia Holt), who’s on the verge of being fired when her company hires the handsome and successful Jay Simmons (Mason Gooding), a hotshot designer brought in to save the day. They hit it off immediately, and Jay invites her to dinner—with strict “business talk only” rules. Their budding romance, however, makes them the next target of the Heart Eyes Killer, a serial murderer on a nationwide couple-killing spree.
By now, everyone knows how a slasher unfolds, and Heart Eyes competently follows the blueprint. There aren’t any wildly inventive kills or shocking twists—the best slasher sequence actually happens early on, making the rest feel slightly underwhelming—but what’s there is solid. Interestingly, the body count is lower than you’d expect, because a significant chunk of the runtime is devoted to the romantic subplot.
That’s where Heart Eyes tries to do something different. Most slasher films already include romance, but this one shifts the balance so that the love story takes center stage. If you’re here purely for the horror, you might find the extended rom-com beats frustrating—almost like the “boring parts” of a slasher that you’d usually fast-forward through taking up half the runtime. But surprisingly, the romance works. Holt and Gooding have enough chemistry to carry a standalone rom-com, and their dynamic is charming. Some of their moments—like Jay’s attempt at a grand romantic gesture that results in him smashing a window and injuring himself, or the running gag about the state of Ally’s apartment—are genuinely cute.
The script doesn’t always do them, especially Ally, many favors, though. She’s introduced making an ad so tone-deaf that it’s hard to believe anyone would have approved it, serial killer or not. She’s also saddled with a few borderline annoying monologues. Still, Holt does a lot to make Ally likable, and she brings enough charisma to keep the film engaging. Gooding’s Jay, on the other hand, is almost too perfect to be believable—but I guess that’s just part of being in a rom-com? Their conflicts may feel artificial at times, but the actors sell it well enough.
It certainly would have been more interesting if the movie leaned harder into fully merging its two genres. A rom-com where the supporting cast—like the best friend or the boss—had a bigger role in the slasher side of things could have been fun. Likewise, the slasher subplot could have had more direct influence on the romantic conflict. And sure, the horror elements could have used a bit more suspense or originality.
But ultimately, if you’re on a movie date where one person wants a slasher and the other a rom-com, Heart Eyes offers a satisfying middle ground. With charismatic leads, genuine chemistry, and just enough scares, it strikes a balance that might leave both sides satisfied.