This article contains spoilers for Heart Eyes and Scream VI
As it turns out, Heart Eyes is even more similar to Scream than what many previously ᴀssumed of the new horror comedy film. The movie, centered on the painfully single Ally (Olivia Holt) and hopelessly romantic Jay (Mason Gooding), follows the anti-couple as they try to evade a masked Valentine’s Day killer. The тιтular Heart Eyes Killer targets lovers on Valentine’s Day each year, with the film’s current killing spree taking place in Seattle.
Heart Eyes was produced by the same team behind Scream VI, and the slasher movies have more than just a common behind-the-scenes link. Masked murderers terrorize the worlds of Heart Eyes and Scream VI, leaving a bloody trail in their wake as the movies’ protagonists desperately try to take down the serial killers. The two films have multiple cinematic parallels, and even share a common actor between them.
Heart Eyes’ Killer Reveal Mirrors Scream 6’s Opener
Heart Eyes and Scream Both Feature Killer Fanboys
Scream VI opens similarly to the franchise’s other movies: someone murdered at the hands of a masked killer, Ghostface. In this 2023 installment, a professor (Samara Weaving) is killed in a dark alley by one of her students, Jason (Tony Revolori), who sports a Ghostface mask. Jason returns home, only to find his roommate and co-conspirator, Greg (Thom Newell), dismembered in a fridge. Jason is then killed by another Ghostface as the Scream VI opening тιтle appears.
Jason and Greg are not your average Ghostfaces. The Scream VI openers are actually fanboys hoping to “complete the movie” that Richie (Jack Quaid) of Scream V set out to make.
In Heart Eyes, Ally and Jay think they have finally stopped the Heart Eyes Killer when they kill a masked murderer after he goes on a ᴅᴇᴀᴅly spree at a drive-in theater. However, it is soon revealed that they killed a man named Eli (Vinnie Bennett), who is only a fan and copycat of the real killers, detectives Shaw and Hobbs. Shaw and Hobbs explicitly refer to Eli as a fanboy, and treat his death with little regard, dismissing him as a mere accessory. The death of the fake Heart Eyes Killer closely resembles what happened in Scream VI.
How Else Heart Eyes Mirrors The Scream Franchise
Heart Eyes and Scream Share More than a Similar Twist
Heart Eyes and Scream share more than just a fixation on killer fanboys. The two films both star Mason Gooding, with the actor taking on the role of Jay in Heart Eyes and Chad in Scream and Scream VI. In Heart Eyes, Gooding’s Jay is made out to be the Heart Eyes Killer by local law enforcement. In Scream, seemingly anyone, including Chad, could be behind the killer’s mask, but when he is attacked by two Ghostfaces, his chances of being responsible for the murder spree shrink. Gooding’s characters in Heart Eyes and Scream VI both face accusations of being a killer, but end up surviving attacks from the masked murderers.
Heart Eyes and Scream also tease their respective killers in cold open scenes. These early murders later play key roles in how both stories unravel later on down the line. The two movies also employ the “cop-turned-killer” and “the killer is actually multiple killers” tropes, although both uses are arguably more effective in Scream VI than Heart Eyes. Just like how Detective Bailey and his children reveal themselves to be Ghostfaces, detectives Shaw and Hobbs expose themselves to both be the Heart Eyes Killer. These surprises keep Heart Eyes and Scream VI viewers on their toes, not knowing where the story will lead next.
