Boy Kills World – Movie Review (4/5)

BOY KILLS WORLD is a new action movie with a crime thriller subplot and a totalitarian leader. Also, it’s ultra-violent, dark comedy and stars Bill Skarsgård, who never speaks. Read our full Boy Kills World movie review!

BOY KILLS WORLD is a new action movie in US theaters and UK cinemas. It is super violent and also super funny. There are so many wild scenes and unexpected injuries that you’ll never feel safe thinking you know what comes next. Also, Bill Skarsgård stars in the title role and he is brilliant!

To be fair, this movie is also a crime thriller about a family acting as a totalitarian leader of a nation. Each year, they have “the culling” where people are murdered just to strike fear into everyone else. It’s Hunger Games but in a far less “fair” way. Not that those games were fair either, of course.

Keep reading our Boy Kills World movie review below. Find it in theaters in the UK, Ireland, and the US from April 26, 2024.

Deaf-mute and often confused

Boy Kills World – no relation to Boy Swallows Universe, I might add – is described as a “gleefully supercharged action film”. And this is perhaps the most perfect description!

The title character has one purpose in life: To avenge his murdered mother and beloved little sister by killing Hilda Van Der Koy. She’s the deranged matriarch of a post-apocalyptic corrupt family dynasty that left our boy orphaned and all alone. She also made sure he was deaf and mute.

Fortunately, he learns to read lips, but it takes quite some time. Even once he’s an adult, it can be an issue. It’s a running joke that one particular person is impossible for him to read. We hear his inner voice trying to decipher what’s being said, but it’s utter nonsense.

Because we experience the world through “Boy”, we never know more than he does, so we’re right there in the dark with him.

But I’m getting way ahead of myself.

Inspired by modern and classic video games

After Boy is left orphaned, deafened, and voiceless, he is trained by a mysterious man. This man is known only as The Shaman and he is shaping Boy into an instrument of death. The goal is to get the Van Der Koys on the eve of the annual culling of dissidents.

His training is like something straight out of any Rocky movie, or even a classic Jean Claude Van Damme film. The actual fights are gorgeously choreographed and inspired by video games. Influences of Mortal Kombat, Streets of Rage, and Street Fighter are obvious. And partly even pointed out!

Even anime and Asian cinema influences are part of this style. It’s all kinds of awesome!

However, you should know that nothing is simple in Boy Kills World. Not least as Boy ends up involved with a desperate resistance group. Also, there’s the ghost of his rebellious little sister, Mina, who he misses more than anything.

The two have never stopped discussing events and often bickering about details. His sister was always sassy, so naturally, this has continued into Boy’s version of her ghost. While Boy grows up, Mina stays the same as when he watched her die.

A Bill voiced by a Bob… sort of!

In Boy Kills World, the all-important title role (well, the adult version anyway) is portrayed by none other than Bill Skarsgård. However, he never speaks a word – you’ll find out why he is deaf and mute in a childhood flashback scene – so he’s voiced by H. Jon Benjamin, who is also Bob in Bob’s Burgers.

I happen to love watching Bob’s Burgers whenever I’m not watching something genre-specific, so it was a real treat (and a bit confusing at times) for me to hear this voice narrating throughout. You see, we hear the inner voice of “Boy” constantly as he experiences the world.

IN CASE YOU DIDN’T KNOW…

If you’re not familiar with Bob’s Burgers, it’s a show that loves doing genre-inspired episodes. Like The Simpson has their yearly “Treehouse of Horror” episodes for Halloween. Do check it out!

Also, it’s a nice twist to see Nicholas and Cameron Crovetti (The Boys) as the young version of Bill Skarsgård’s “Boy”. These two also portrayed the twin sons of Alexander Skarsgård in Big Little Lies. Basically, they’ve now cemented that the Crovetti boys are just younger versions of any Skarsgård.

In another cool role, we see Jessica Rothe (Happy Death Day, Utopia) while Famke Janssen (Locked In, X-Men) is the fierce and brutal dictator!

Also, we get to see Michelle Dockery (Downton Abbey), Brett Gelman (Stranger Things), Isaiah Mustafa (It: Chapter Two), Yayan Ruhian (The Raid), Quinn Copeland (Punky Brewster), Andrew Koji (Bullet Train), and Sharlto Copley (Russian Doll).

Watch Boy Kills World in theaters now!

Director Moritz Mohr was born in Germany but grew up on Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter, with the latter being his fighting game of choice. When watching this movie, it also comes across quite clearly. Along with video games, several directors and their iconic movies also served as inspiration.

Among them are Park Chan-Wook‘s Vengeance trilogy, John Woo, Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead movies,  and the Drunken Master series with Jackie Chan. It should be noted that Sam Raimi is also a producer of this movie, which must have made Moritz Mohr extremely happy!

The screenplay comes from Arend Remmers (Oderbruch) and Tyler Burton Smith (2019 Child’s Play remake) from a screen story by director Moritz Mohr and writer Arend Remmers. It’s a wild story that has several twists and turns. The ending was partly predictable and also featured a brilliant twist.

As someone who loves genre hybrids and is fine with ultra-violent moments when they’re combined with comedy, I found myself having a blast with this movie!

Boy Kills World is out in theaters in the UK, Ireland, and the US from April 26, 2024.

Details

Director: Moritz Mohr
Writers: Tyler Burton Smith, Arend Remmers, Moritz Mohr
Cast: Bill Skarsgård, Jessica Rothe, Michelle Dockery, Brett Gelman, Isaiah Mustafa, Yayan Ruhian, Nicholas & Cameron Crovetti, Quinn Copeland, Andrew Koji, Sharlto Copley, Famke Janssen, H. Jon Benjamin