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Bill Skarsgård hasn’t been one to shy away from action and violence. He’s haunted our nightmares as Pennywise from It, and he’s appeared in films like Barbarian and the most recent John Wick installment. And in the post-apocalyptic thriller Boy Kills World, he dives head-first into another blood-soaked adventure.
Boy Kills World stars Skarsgård as Boy, a deaf and mute warrior who’s been trained with one purpose in mind: to kill Hilda Van Der Koy (Famke Janssen), the vengeful head of their post-apocalyptic society. After Hilda killed his family, he was rescued by a mysterious shaman (Yayan Ruhian), who spent years training him for this one mission. And as the time comes for the annual culling—a televised mass murder of Hilda’s enemies—Boy teams up with a couple of rebels to break up the culling and stop the Van Der Koy family.
Though the entire Van Der Koy family stands in his way, Boy battles his way through one level of protection after another in ultra-violent video game-style martial arts action. He’s definitely a fascinating character—a trained warrior who’s devoted his life to one single mission. Though he remembers very little of his life before he lost his family—and we never really learn much about the Van Der Koys or how they came into power—Boy does remember his little sister, whose ghost often follows him around, offering advice and occasionally getting in the way. He doesn’t even remember the sound of his own voice—so his inner monologue has the voice of his favorite video game character.
While the character’s background and circumstances are dark and tragic, though, everything about this movie is completely and outrageously extreme—from the character’s inner voice to the pitch-black comedy to the intense violence. This is one seriously dark and twisted and often stomach-turning film—yet it’s shockingly laugh-out-loud funny, too. The action sequences are nearly non-stop, only allowing viewers to catch their breath during the occasional outrageously entertaining planning scenes. The film never takes itself seriously—not at all. And that allows the filmmakers to wander off in some completely bizarre directions with its action and storytelling.
Extreme violence like this definitely won’t appeal to everyone. In fact, most people will find it to be way too much. But there’s just something about the mix of violence and dark humor that makes it a wildly entertaining experience for viewers who have a twisted sense of humor.
No matter how amusing and over-the-top it may be, the gruesome violence of Boy Kills World certainly requires a strong stomach. But it’s such a clever and wickedly funny adventure that it might just be worth it.
Brace yourself for battle when Boy Kills World fights its way into theaters on April 26, 2024.
Listen to the review on Reel Discovery:
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