Review: 'Boy Kills World' spellbinding

Four out of Five Stars

By Mallory Stiles             
Editor in Chief

I just got out of an afternoon showing of “Boy Kills World,” an action comedy-thriller directed by Moritz Mohr, and I am SO happy I did.

I have loved action movies since I was a little girl. Kinda strange, I know, but they were all my dad would watch, so I grew to love them. I grew up on the fighting style of Jason Bourne and Martin Q. Blank, but there was a LOT of blood in this movie, too, so I was happy.

It all starts with a little kid being trained in the jungle by a seemingly insane yet benign “shaman.” It was a very “Karate-Kid” like beginning, but it was still satisfying nonetheless to watch the transformation of a warrior.

The main character played by Bill Skarsgard, is only ever referred to as “Boy” and he is also a deaf/mute, so his inner thoughts are narrated by H. Jon Benjamin (Bob from “Bob’s Burgers”), and it never gets old.

Boy is training because, according to his recollection, a dictator named Hilda van der Koy, who rules over a corrupt society as a sort of monarch, killed his mother and his sister.

Hilda is known for being especially brutal toward those who oppose her or her family and executes them all. However, times have changed as Boy grew, and now those who were once murdered in the town square are now murdered on an annual TV show called “The Culling.”

While Boy and the shaman are in the market, the “police” descend and start rounding up this year’s “offenders.” Boy flashes back to his family being murdered and springs into action against the shaman’s orders.

A lot of people die and then, blood-covered, Boy sneaks into a police car trunk and makes it into the van der Koy compound. There, he makes a few friends and tells a few jokes, but eventually gets captured.

Long story short, he ends up on “The Culling” and that is all I can tell you. If I give any more hints, I will spoil it, but I promise you there is a twist at the end that warmed my traumatized little heart.

As far as criticisms go, I wanted to see a bit more explanation of certain things. Like, for example, a lot of the “police” were vaping something that seemed to make them stronger, but you never find out what it is, or even hear it referenced.

I also would have chosen to start explaining things a bit earlier. The ending wraps up a little quick and left me with a bit of whiplash. I also would have like to have seen a bit more of the society Boy was living in to understand the setting more.

I give this movie a four out of five stars because even though I would change a few minor things, I couldn’t leave my seat.