Movie Review – Boy Kills World

I’m trying to think of what could have been better in this movie, but nothing jumps out at me. First, there is an element of campiness to the story that excuses it from the necessity of complete realism. Like, it takes place in our reality, but not quite. There’s no magic or superhero stuff going on, but still, it doesn’t entirely fit into our reality. Maybe that’s because it takes place in some unnamed city/state in an unnamed time.

On average I see just a little more than one movie a week in theaters, so it’s unusual for me to see a movie that I haven’t seen any trailers for at all. But that’s the case with this movie. I had no expectation going in because I knew nothing about it. And I’m really pleased that I didn’t because it was a delight.

Action

The action is better than average, but it really hangs on the cinematography. That isn’t a surprise since Sam Raimi is a co-producer. His cinematic touch is unmistakab le. The violence also veers into some cringe moments that I had to look away. There’s some pretty grotesque imagery in a few scenes. I thought about adding Alert Peetimes for a few, but what’s the point? It would ruin the movie to be distracted with so many “don’t look” moments. For the most part you can see them coming if you’re inclined to glance away and let the sound tell the story.

Humor

There was a surprising amount of humor in the movie, and it was all effortless. There was never a funny moment that felt like they were trying to include humor. It just fit and was sometimes hilarious.

Script

That leads us to the script. I’m not going to say it was a masterpiece because it’s not that kind of movie. But the writers Arend Remmers and Tyler Burton Smith clearly put their heart and soul into this script. I see a lot of movies that have great potential, but it feels like the writers gave up in the script after the third rewrite when they needed to give it two or three more rewrites to give it the necessary polish. This is a script that was polished and cleared of any blemishes.

Acting

Finally, the acting was fantastic. Bill Skarsgård plays a deaf-mute, so he has zero speaking lines. You might think that makes a role easier to perform, but I would wager the opposite. He has to express everything his character feels into expressions. Of course, there is a voice-over to let us know what he’s thinking, which is where most of the humor comes in. But he can’t tell another character how he feels, he has to express it. Kudos to a job well done.

The other characters are all just a little over the top, without becoming caricatures. And now I think I realize why this movie doesn’t quite seem to fit into our reality. It feels a little bit like a video game, which of course is referenced throughout the movie, and Tyler Burton Smith has experience writing for a video game. It all fits now.

Grade: A

About The Peetime s: This was a crazy hard movie to find Peetimes for. There’s hardly a break between the action and witty humor. I think the 2nd Peetime is the best of the bunch.

There are extra scenes during, or after, the end credits of Boy Kills World.

Rated:	(R) Sexual References | Language | Gore | Some Drug Use | Strong Bloody Violence
Genres:	Action, Thriller
Starring:	Bill Skarsgård, Famke Janssen, Jessica Rothe
Director:	Moritz Mohr
Writer(s):	Tyler Burton Smith, Arend Remmers, Moritz Mohr
Language:	English
Country:	Germany, South Africa, United States

Plot
A dystopian fever dream action film that follows Boy, a deaf person with a vibrant imagination. When his family is murdered, he is trained by a mysterious shaman to repress his childish imagination and become an instrument of death.