New 87% Horror Movie Is The Perfect Scream Replacement & Even Includes A Special Connection
The following contains spoilers for Heart Eyes, now playing in theatersHeart Eyes is a great modern successor to the Scream franchise, building off the influence and legacy of that series to tell its own silly (and surprisingly romantic) take on the slasher genre. Heart Eyes centers on Ally and Jay, new work colleagues who have to work late on Valentine’s Day — and accidently catch the attention of a relationship-hunting masked killer. Similar to Wes Craven’s Scream, which was a self-aware riff on the slasher films that nevertheless embraced the genre to full effect, Heart Eyes has a clear blast playing with the gory heights of the rom-com/slasher film concept.
In many ways, Heart Eyes feels a like a direct creative descendant to Scream. While the characters of Heart Eyes may be older than the typical Scream protagonist and the 2025 slasher embraces a slightly sillier tone, the rampages of Ghostface and Heart Eyes have more in common than they appear, with lot of thematic, story, and casting connections between them. Although they have very distinct differences in their overall themes and plots, Heart Eyes‘ unique approach to the same kind of tonal mashup that Scream explored almost thirty years ago makes it a worthy addition to the horror pantheon.
Heart Eyes Is A Self-Aware Horror Movie Like Scream
Heart Eyes And Scream Both Poke Fun At Slasher Tropes While Embracing Them
Heart Eyes is a very self-aware horror movie in a way that will feel familiar to fans of Scream, approaching the genre conventions with a sense of dark comedy. Both Heart Eyes and Scream are slasher films at their very core, with gory kills littered throughout their respective run-times. However, both films are also frequently poking fun at the conventions of the horror genre, especially the ones from slashers. While this self-aware sense of humor is played differently, they share a similar comedic DNA. In Scream, the humor is more dialogue-driven beats that serve as meta commentaries on horror tropes.
In Heart Eyes, the comedy is more physical and silly, and less fully self-aware. However, Heart Eyes still plays with genre conventions by having their characters act like comically grounded versions of the horror archetypes. Ally is a terrible shot instead of suddenly adept at weapons, she falls for realistic reasons instead of just over herself, and is absolutely confused by the mundane non-reveal of the dead Heart Eyes killer. The film flaunts just as many conventions of horror films as the more openly meta Scream, just in a way that fits neater into a funny and surprisingly romantic film.
Heart Eyes’ Killer Twist Is Taken Right Out Of Scream
Both Movies Feature A Third-Act Twist Reveal About There Being Multiple Killers
Heart Eyes and the Scream series share more than a darkly comedic approach to the slasher genre. Heart Eyes also repeats a reoccurring twist from the Scream franchise, going all the way back to the beginning of the series. In Scream, the big twist was that there were two people working together as Ghostface. Billy Loomis and Stu Macher both being the killer led to a frequent habit for Scream films to reveal multiple people are operating under the mask, a trend that continues into the modern entries of the series. Heart Eyes follows suit, with a similar twist ending.
Heart Eyes‘ third act reveals that the killer Ally was able to dispatch at the drive-in movie was just a fan of the true Heart Eyes killer. The true Heart Eyes killers actually turn out to be Detective Shaw and her husband, David. Similar to how Billy and Stu were initally depicted as good people, Shaw had been portrayed as a well-meaning and slightly funny ally to Ally and Jay. The revelation of her true nature allows Jordana Brewster to play Shaw as a much campier character — a similar acting choice made in Scream by Skeet Ulrich and Matthew Lillard.
Heart Eyes’ Mason Gooding Is Also Part Of The Scream Franchise
Mason Gooding Appeared As Chad In Scream Before Becoming Jay In Heart Eyes
Heart Eyes and the Scream series even share a star in Mason Gooding. Gooding appears as Chad Meeks-Martin in 2022’s Scream and 2023’s Scream VI. Alongside his twin sister Mindy, Chad is one of the main survivors of the recent Ghostface attacks. The twins serve as a source of comic relief, with Chad developing a romance subplot with Jenna Ortega’s Tara. Chad is a major figure in the film but far from the star of the story. Gooding gets to step fully into that spotlight in Heart Eyes, which focuses on his performance as Jay alongside Olivia Holt as Ally.
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EXCLUSIVE: Mason Gooding compares the Heart Eyes Killer in his new horror movie to Ghostface in the Scream franchise, offering up a survival tip.
Heart Eyes pits Gooding against a new masked killer, but the tighter focus on Jay in the story gives the actor a lot of fun opportunities that Chad just didn’t have. This includes a memorable beat where Jay has to dodge around the killer while still handcuffed to a table. Heart Eyes feels like the realization of all potential Gooding showed in the Scream films, highlighting how entertaining and charming he can be in that kind of lead role. Scream and Heart Eyes both recognize Mason Gooding is a flexible actor, and uses it well in their own tonal mashup.
Could Heart Eyes Become The Next Scream?
Heart Eyes Could Easily Continue, But Josh Ruben Should Keep Experimenting With Horror
Heart Eyes and Scream both even poke fun at the nature of sequel set-up in slasher films. Scream ends with Randy noting that horror movie villains always try to get one last jump scare in, only for Sidney to nonchalantly shoot Billy when he tries that on her. In Heart Eyes‘ post-credits scene, a phone call to Ally sounds frighteningly similar to the Heart Eyes killers, only for it turn out to be her best friend Monica playing a joke on her best friend. It’s another example of both films having a somewhat silly self-aware sense of humor towards slashers.
A new figure could don the [Heart Eyes] mask and continue the legacy of the killer, setting up an easy excuse to bring back Jay and Ally or shift focus to new characters.
While Heart Eyes ends rather conclusively, there’s no reason the film couldn’t be expanded upon into a slasher series similar to the evolution of Scream. A new figure could don the mask and continue the legacy of the killer, setting up an easy excuse to bring back Jay and Ally or shift focus to new characters. However, it would be more exciting to see director Josh Ruben continue his streak of horror comedies that tackle different aspects of the genre. Heart Eyes is a great thematic descendant of Scream, and it’s exciting to see what comes next from the filmmaker.
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