Every Valentine’s Day, a killer in a cracked mask with glowing red heart-shaped eyes picks out a happy couple and turns their romance into a crime scene. This year Ally, a heartbroken marketing executive who has sworn off love, and Jay, the irritatingly charming colleague she barely knows, are mistaken for lovebirds. Now they have one long night to survive, and to convince a psychopath they are definitely not together.
Heart Eyes, the 2025 slasher from director Josh Ruben, arrives on Netflix in the UK on Saturday 14 November after its cinema run early last year. It is a blood-soaked mash-up of romantic comedy and slasher movie, and the surprise is how well the two halves fit. It is silly, gory and self-aware, and above all great fun.
Every romcom cliché, from the meet-cute to the race to the airport, gets a machete through it, and somehow the romance survives.
Movie at a Glance
- UK availability: Streaming on Netflix from Saturday 14 November 2026
- Original release: In cinemas in February 2025
- Director: Josh Ruben
- Writers: Phillip Murphy, Christopher Landon and Michael Kennedy
- Starring: Olivia Holt, Mason Gooding, Gigi Zumbado, Jordana Brewster, Devon Sawa and Michaela Watkins
- Production: Screen Gems and Spyglass Media Group
- Runtime: 97 minutes
- BBFC certificate: 18 (strong bloody violence, gore)
- Genre: Slasher horror-comedy
Viewer Match
- Best for: Fans of Scream, Happy Death Day and Totally Killer, couples who like their date night with a body count, and anyone who finds Valentine’s Day faintly sinister.
- Maybe skip if: You are squeamish about gory kills, or you like your horror deadly serious.
- Mood and pace: Fast, flirty and splattery, with one slow patch in the middle.
- Cinema or streaming? A perfect Saturday-night Netflix watch with friends or a brave date.
- Spoiler level: Spoiler-free: no kills or killer identity revealed.
A Meet-Cute With a Machete
The set-up is pure romcom. Ally (Olivia Holt) is stuck on her ex, scrolling his social media, and close to losing her job after a badly timed jewellery advert about doomed lovers. Her boss (Michaela Watkins) pairs her with Jay (Mason Gooding), a hopeless romantic brought in to save the campaign. They clash over dinner on Valentine’s night, she kisses him to make her ex jealous, and the Heart Eyes Killer is watching.
From there, the film runs every romcom ritual through a slasher filter. There is a makeover, a misunderstanding, a heart-to-heart and a dash to the airport, and each one is staged with a killer lurking somewhere in the frame. The script, co-written by Happy Death Day director Christopher Landon, knows exactly what it is doing, and the jokes about genre rules mostly land without becoming smug.
Chemistry You Could Cut With a Knife
None of it would work without the leads, and Holt and Gooding are a terrific pair. Holt, already a scream-comedy veteran from Totally Killer, makes Ally prickly, funny and resourceful, and she sells both the terror and the wisecracks. Gooding, who had little to do in the recent Scream films, is charming and surprisingly tough as Jay. Their bickering has real spark, so you genuinely root for them to survive and, yes, to get together.
Gigi Zumbado steals scenes as Ally’s best friend Monica, while Jordana Brewster and Devon Sawa have fun as a pair of detectives whose surnames, Shaw and Hobbs, are the setup for one of the film’s more obvious gags. Their subplot, including a police-station stretch in the middle, is the weakest part of the film and briefly slows the pace.
Pretty, Bloody and Inventive
Ruben, who made Werewolves Within, stages his kills with real imagination and a wicked sense of humour. They are creative, pulpy and very gory, which is why the film carries an 18 certificate. The killer’s design is a winner too: that cracked mask and those glowing red hearts are instantly iconic, a smart blend of emoji and nightmare.
Stephen Murphy’s photography moves between the warm glow of romcom and the cold fog of a classic 1990s slasher, and the locations, from a winery to a carousel to a drive-in showing His Girl Friday, are deliberately picture-postcard romantic, which makes the bloodshed funnier. The scares are more fun than frightening, and a couple of twists strain belief, but the film moves so briskly that it rarely matters. Stay for the mid-credits scene.
Spoiler-Free Verdict
Heart Eyes is a bright, bloody and very funny slasher romcom with a genuinely lovable pair of leads, an iconic killer and a stream of inventive kills. A saggy middle and a few obvious jokes keep it short of greatness, but it is one of the most purely entertaining horror comedies of recent years.
- Performances: 7.5/10
- Direction: 7/10
- Screenplay: 6.5/10
- Score: 6.5/10
- Cinematography: 7/10
- Entertainment Value: 8/10
- Overall score: 7/10
Star rating: 3.5/5
Verdict badge: One for Fans
One-line verdict: Love hurts, especially at knifepoint, and this gleefully gory romcom slasher is a killer date night.
Watch the Official Trailer
Meet the Heart Eyes Killer, if you dare, in the official trailer.
Hungry for more horror? Our definitive guide to horror films is packed with picks, and What to Watch Tonight has more ideas for your evening.
Would you rather spend Valentine’s night being chased by the Heart Eyes Killer or stuck on a date with your ex? Share your spoiler-free reaction to Heart Eyes.