Heart Eyes’ Killer Identity Twist & Plan Explained

Warning: Major spoilers ahead for Heart Eyes

Josh Ruben’s latest horror comedy Heart Eyes has earned overwhelmingly positive reviews for its well-executed genre blend, but perhaps the most brilliant part of the script was its shocking twist ending, which finally revealed the identity and motivation of the Heart Eyes Killer. While Heart Eyes is heavy on both gore and imaginative kills, it develops a surprisingly sweet romance in between the meta rom-com commentary and the sight gags. Critics have applauded the cast of Heart Eyes, particularly its two leads, for walking the line between horror and comedy.

The movie follows new coworkers Jay (Mason Gooding) and Ally (Olivia Holt) as they spend Valentine’s Day night fleeing from a masked killer through the city of Seattle. In the course of their ongoing terror, they find common ground despite their conflicting attitudes towards romance, resulting in the development of real feelings for each other. Unsurprisingly, they manage to survive the night so that their newfound relationship has the opportunity to continue, but only after they discover the real identity of the Heart Eyes Killer.

The Origin & Backstory Of The Heart Eyes Killer

The Killer Known As HEK Was Already Two Years Into His Reign Of Terror

Heart Eyes cleverly doesn’t introduce the Heart Eyes Killer as some mysterious entity that nobody believes in, like many slasher movies have done before. When the movie opens in Seattle, the country is all too aware that the “HEK” serial killer has slaughtered couples on Valentine’s Day the last two years. While he originally began his rampage on the East Coast, killing couples in Boston and Philadelphia previously, he appears in Seattle for his third Valentine’s Day, and promptly murders a couple at a winery and a spa, along with anyone who gets in his way in the process.

The killer had been captured with photos and security camera footage, so the general public knew what he looks like and how he operates well before the movie’s main narrative begins. In fact, the Heart Eyes Killer has a sickly dedicated fanbase, with people wearing makeshift masks and a cult social media following. It makes the emoji-eyed slasher somewhat unique in modern horror, and gives him an added layer of realism; that’s pretty much exactly how social media in the real world would react to a gimmicky, famous serial killer.

The First Heart Eyes Killer Is Just A Fanboy

The 3rd Person To Act As HEK Was An Eager Recruit

That cult following is actually responsible for some of the Heart Eyes Killer’s murders, as it’s revealed that the mask is worn by multiple people. One of whom is a man named Eli, who is later explained to just be a “fanboy” of the real Heart Eyes Killer. He’s recruited when the Heart Eyes Killer comes to Seattle, and it’s actually Eli who is responsible for the film’s opening scene murders at the winery, along with the arrow that the cab driver who brought Ally and Jay to Ally’s apartment took to the face.

Eli is the version of the Heart Eyes Killer that stalks Jay and Ally through the drive-in at the movie’s (fake) climax, and who they eventually incapacitate and kill. While not all the switches between Heart Eyes Killers are identified, it’s clear that the transitions are well-orchestrated to make it seem like it’s one person doing all the killing, meaning that Eli was probably recruited based on his pre-existing knowledge of the Heart Eyes Killer’s modus operandi.

Detective Shaw & Her Husband Are The Real Heart Eyes Killer

Jordana Brewster’s Character Posed As A Detective Hunting HEK

After Jay and Ally kill Eli, the real Heart Eyes Killer, or Killers, are revealed: Jordana Brewster’s character Detective Shaw and her husband, David. Alongside her partner, Detective Hobbs (played by Devon Sawa), Shaw manages to hide her connection to the Heart Eyes Killer by posing as one of the detectives pursuing him. Heart Eyes does a good job hiding the reveal, with the only real clues being the wedding ring found at the scene of the winery murders matching Detective Shaw’s initials, and David posing as an IT guy at the Seattle Police Department where HEK shows up.

The murderous husband and wife finally reveal themselves to Ally and Jay when they kidnap Jay and force Ally to St. Valentine’s Chapel in Seattle where they claim they were married ten years earlier. While they attempt to force Ally to confront her own romantic feelings (or lack thereof) for Jay, the young, almost-couple manage to outmaneuver and overpower Detective Shaw and David, and kill them both in appropriately Valentine’s Day-related manners.

Why Detective Shaw & Her Husband Became The Heart Eyes Killer

They Connected Based On A Shared Passion For Murder

In a satirical shot at horror movies, David and Detective Shaw’s motivation isn’t based in some convoluted logic based on revenge against a world that has treated them unjustly or their own past scorned love lives. They met years ago in a chatroom and bonded over their shared affinity for murder, literally explaining that murder is their love language. As noted by a detective at the beginning of Heart Eyes and repeated by the Shaws in the movie’s climax, “Everybody’s got a fetish.” David and Detective Shaw’s happen to be killing couples on Valentine’s Day.

How The Heart Eyes Killer Can Return In A Sequel

HEK Already Has Fans, So A Copycat Killer Makes Sense

With how excellent the reviews of Heart Eyes have been, along with a projected box office total that should completely justify the movie’s modest production cost, a sequel seems all but inevitable. Fortunately, the groundwork has already been laid for how the Heart Eyes Killer can return despite all three people who were responsible for the slasher’s creation ending the movie in a puddle of their own blood. It’s possible that neither Mason Gooding nor Olivia Holt will return for a sequel, but the Heart Eyes Killer can live again due to the culture surrounding the character.

The relationship between Detective Shaw and her husband began in an online chatroom, where somehow the conversation found its way to their shared love of grisly murder. It stands to reason that the internet is probably how they found Eli, who was a certified fanboy of the Heart Eyes Killer before donning the mask himself. With all three characters dead, with their identities exposed, they will almost certainly inspire copycat killers across the country. A Heart Eyes sequel could explore the murders of one of these copycats, or the greater Heart Eyes Killer fan culture in general.

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Heart Eyes

5/10

Release Date

February 7, 2025

Director

Josh Ruben

Writers

Michael Kennedy, Phillip Murphy, Christopher Landon

Cast

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