‘Boy Kills World’ review: Dir. Moritz Mohr (2024)

Bill Skarsgård is kicking off his 2024 slate strong with Boy Kills World. Directed by Moritz Mohr, and produced by Sam Raimi, Boy Kills World is an original action revenge thriller that mixes up traditional style and tone to create something rather special.

Set within a totalitarian rule, Boy Kills World follows Boy (Skarsgård), a fully grown man, as he seeks to destroy the ruling tyrant, Hilda Van Der Koy (Famke Janssen). As a child, Boy witnessed Hilda cull his mother and sister, and has spent years honing his fighting skills under the tutelage of a mysterious mentor (Yayan Ruhian). Believing himself now ready to exact his revenge, Boy embarks on a bloody battle to eradicate not only Hilda, but the rest of the Van Der Koy clan too. 

Whilst the overarching narrative of Boy Kills World is fairly straightforward, Mohr packs it full of quirky moments and unexpected turns. These ingenious flourishes enrich Boy Kills World and elevates it from others in the oversaturated market. The first thing that Mohr does is make his lead character both deaf and mute. The second sees Mohr give Boy a voice, via his internal monologue, voiced by the excellent H. Jon Benjamin. Combined, these changes instantly help Boy Kills World stand out from its peers, but with the narration, allows the film’s humour to flood in. 

Though not a clear-cut action-comedy, Boy Kills World is full of witty one-liners and jokes. This is a revenge thriller that is not overly concerned with keeping itself serious, but is careful not to venture too far into Deadpool territory. The comedy found within is a delicate balance between gallows humour and slapstick. Both work to diffuse the action on-screen, taking the edge off just enough that the audience is kept in a consistent state of delight. 

The action itself is blistering, bloody and brutal. Mohr is not afraid to get gorey and Boy Kills World certainly throws a lot of the red stuff around. Mohr’s thirst for gore will be appreciated by those who grew up on the likes of Rambo and The Running Man. Bones are broken, faces eviscerated, and limbs are gleefully hacked away during the many fight sequences, ensuring plenty of wincing from the viewer. A kitchen-set battle ups the ante of the cheesegrater inflicted damage seen in 2023’s Evil Dead Rise. Later, there is an action sequence in a lift lobby that is easily the best since The Matrix. It all unfolds at breakneck pace; there’s hardly an ounce of fat on its svelte runtime. 

The conduit for all of this action is Bill Skarsgård. The Swedish actor is better known for his work in horror, famously playing Pennywise in Andy Muschietti’s It movies. However, Skarsgård has also slowly been sneaking his way into the action genre. From a small role in Atomic Blonde, to playing John Wick’s adversary in John Wick 4, Skarsgård now takes centre stage as the hero. His ability to perform the intensive fight scenes is impressive, and with the star on screen for much of it, like his John Wick co-star Keanu Reeves, he breathes an authenticity into both Boy and the film. This is sadly something lacking from many modern action films, with some of the bigger stars refusing to look weak or be seen getting hurt. 

Mohr hasn’t made Skarsgård’s transition to action hero easy either. Throughout the course of Boy Kills World, Boy does battle with a range of weapons, meaning that Skarsgård must look natural with all of them. Thankfully, the actor is a quick study and impressively wields an arsenal that include machetes, swords, guns, knuckle dusters, and a variety of kitchen appliances. His ability to adapt to different weapons means that the momentum is never lost from the fight sequences, and repetition is certainly not an issue either. Skarsgård also does wonderful work with the more dramatic side of his character. That Boy is mute does not matter as Skarsgård expertly conveys the character’s emotions on both his face and through his body. It is an impressive feat, and that neither side of the character is let down, pushes Boy Kills World further toward the top of the modern action pile. 

Surrounding Boy is a rogues gallery of bad guys. The Van Der Koys are a delightful mixture of villain stereotypes. At the top of the pile is the power crazed Hilda, but it is her siblings that shine brightest. Brett Gelman is great as the artistically frustrated henchman, Sharlto Copley is hilarious as the overly cocky Gideon, and Michelle Dockery excels as the shrewd business-headed Melanie. Dockery is a far cry from her Downton Abbey persona, and she is clearly having fun embracing her inner evil. Then there’s June-27, played by Happy Death Day star, Jessica Rothe, who adds the cool factor. Her character sports a texting helmet for much of the film, a move which pushes the film ever so slightly into the sci-fi genre arena. 

Filmed in Cape Town, South Africa, rather than disguising the location, Mohr keeps the forests and dilapidated villages. Both work to help set his idea of a world struggling under totalitarian rule. They also help Boy Kills World stand out from those revenge films set in big cities. It too pays homage to the martial art films of old that have obviously inspired Mohr. 

With Bill Skarsgård next to be seen as Eric Draven in The Crow, Boy Kills World offers reassurance about the star’s action abilities. Here, he effortlessly sheds his horror trappings and 2024 might just be the year that he cements himself as an action hero. Mohr comes out of the blocks running. Boy Kills World is his debut feature, and a true labour of love. His years of painstaking hard work have paid off as Boy Kills World is one of the more electric feature debuts in years. A film that wears its comic book, video game, and cartoon influences on its sleeve, Boy Kills World is a blood-soaked and bonkers thrill-ride that deserves a thousand sequels. 

Boy Kills World arrives exclusively in UK cinemas on Friday 26th April 2024.