97 min | R | February 7, 2025 | Sony Pictures Releasing
Josh Ruben makes a Valentine’s Day slasher that understands the genre and executes with precision. Olivia Holt and Mason Gooding sell the premise completely.
Horror-comedies live or die on tone. Too much comedy and the horror loses teeth. Too much horror and the comedy feels forced. Heart Eyes walks that line with confidence. A masked killer hunts couples on Valentine’s Day. Two coworkers get mistaken for a couple and spend the night running for their lives. The premise is clean. The execution is sharp.
Olivia Holt and Mason Gooding play the mismatched pair with genuine chemistry. They find the humor in extreme situations without undercutting the danger. The supporting cast, Gigi Zumbado, Devon Sawa, Jordana Brewster, Michaela Watkins, all do work that serves the story without demanding spotlight. The killer is effectively menacing. The gore is brutal without being gratuitous. The film earns its R rating.
Josh Ruben directed Scare Me and Werewolves Within. Both films showed a director who understood genre mechanics and knew how to subvert them without being cute. This one plays straighter but no less effectively. Christopher Landon produced, and you can feel his influence in the structure and pacing.
This is smart genre filmmaking that respects its audience and delivers exactly what it promises. This is what studio horror should be.