2025's Most Romantic Horror Movie Is Killing It On Netflix's Top Charts

I'll be the first to admit that, when it comes to horror movies, I'm a bit of a wimp. When I was a kid, "The Exorcist" was re-released (in 2000, specifically), and the TV commercials gave me nightmares for several weeks. With that said, a movie like Josh Ruben's "Heart Eyes" is approachable even for scared little babies like me, which makes it utterly unsurprising that the movie is performing quite well on Netflix, according to FlixPatrol.

"Heart Eyes" came out on February 7, 2025 — and now that its theatrical release is finished, it's found a home on Netflix and is getting a lot of attention ... as it should! The horror-romance hybrid centers on Ally McCabe (Olivia Holt), a young woman who works for a jewelry company and, fresh off a breakup, ends up meeting consulting advertiser Jay Simmons (Mason Gooding) in a professional context ... only for sparks to quickly fly. However, things go south for the two when they're attacked by a mysterious masked serial killer known only as Heart Eyes, who typically slaughters couples on Valentine's Day and, most recently, left a ring engraved with the initials "J.S." Though Jay becomes a suspect at one point, he and Ally spend the film trying to track down the real killer — and I won't spoil the extremely fun reveal here.

So, what did critics think of "Heart Eyes," and what do you need to know about Ruben, who happens to be a successful indie horror filmmaker and a comedic tour de force? Here's what you should know about "Heart Eyes," one of the funniest and sweetest horror movies in recent memory.

I'd say that 81% is a pretty solid rating for "Heart Eyes" on Rotten Tomatoes, and the critical consensus confirms that the reviews were solid: "A mixture of gory slasher and sweet rom-com that ingeniously nails both formulas, 'Heart Eyes' serves up a bloody valentine that'll make the heart skip a beat." As far as individual critics go, /Film's own Chris Evangelista felt like the film skewed much more towards rom-com than horror, but still enjoyed it; as he wrote in his review, "'Heart Eyes' is solid enough to entertain. The jokes land, the leads are great, and the romance storyline is surprisingly sweet — I fully believed that Jay and Ally were falling for each other, which is no easy feat [...] [Josh] Ruben's direction keeps everything together nicely, and the kills will likely illicit (intentional) laughs from the crowd."

"'Heart Eyes' is a like a Hinge date from hell. Smart, funny, intense; swipe right," Ian Freer wrote in his review for Empire Magazine, and over at IndieWire, Alison Forman agreed: "The perfect length for a first date, 'Heart Eyes' boasts a dazzling plot that goes places quickly. It's a highly re-watchable trick you'll want to see pulled off twice." (Notably, "Heart Eyes" is only 97 minutes long.) Writing for TheWrap, William Bibbiani raved, "'Heart Eyes' seems destined to become a Valentine's Day favorite, that rare horror movie with a great and charming love story, and that even rarer romantic comedy with a great and savage serial killer."

Not every critic was fully sold on "Heart Eyes," though. At The Daily Beast, Nick Schager called the film "[A] bland stab at genre hybridization, whose sole accomplishment is falling flat at everything it tries." Erik Piepenburg agreed in his review for The New York Times; as he put it, "A horror rom-com can be delightful, but this film would put even Cupid in a bad mood." Still, the majority of critics found something to love in "Heart Eyes," so don't let the few detractors put you off if you're planning to check it out on Netflix.

At this point, I'd actually like to pivot ever-so-slightly away from "Heart Eyes" itself and talk about its director, Josh Ruben — because if you're not familiar with him, you should be. Ruben got his official start working at CollegeHumor alongside his childhood buddy Sam Reich in New York before decamping to Los Angeles in 2016, and just a few years later, he made his first horror movie, titled "Scare Me." Ruben stars in the project alongside Aya Cash ("You're the Worst"), Chris Redd ("Saturday Night Live"), and comedienne Rebecca Drysdale, where all of the main players improvise scary stories in a creepy house until the stories take on a life of their own. Ruben then followed that up with the totally charming "Werewolves Within," an adaptation of the video game of the same name that stars Sam Richardson ("I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson") and Milana Vayntrub (everything AT&T-related, including a bunch of commercials) and which released in 2021.

There's no question that Ruben is an accomplished filmmaker who tends to blend horror with more lighthearted genres, but if you're familiar with the streaming service Dropout, you probably also know that he's one of the funniest comedians working today. (At the end of last year, my esteemed colleague BJ Colangelo did a deep dive on Dropout here at /Film, explaining why it's the streaming service that most deserves your hard-earned money.) After appearing on the game show "Game Changer" (as hosted by Reich, who oversees Dropout itself), Ruben became a cornerstone of that show's spin-off, "Make Some Noise," and frankly, the sounds Ruben can create out of literally nowhere are ridiculous. You should absolutely watch "Heart Eyes," which is on Netflix now, but if you feel so inclined, you should also watch Ruben's work on Dropout.