Boy Kills World Movie Review
Nathan Swank
April 26th, 2024
BOY KILLS WORLD is a ridiculously funny, action-packed, violent roller coaster ride, where absurdity reigns through gruesome vengeance. The imagery on screen is so insanely dark and savage that it’s hard to believe it pulls off also being massively light and playful.
Bill Skarsgård stars as “Boy,” a deaf and mute orphan who is seeking vengeance after his family is murdered by Bhilda Van Der Koy, played by Famke Janssen, deranged matriarch of a corrupt post-apocalyptic dynasty. Boy has assigned himself an inner voice from a childhood video game, voiced by H. Jon Benjamin of ‘Bob’s Burgers’ and ‘Archer’ fame. Boy trains his entire life with a mysterious shaman to become an instrument of death. On the evening of the annual culling, a ‘Hunger Games’ style of rounding up people to be executed on television as a warning to those who dare oppose the Van Der Koy family, Boy unleashes his angry rampaging wrath. Boy goes on a wild adventure dismantling soldiers and villainous family members of the Big Boss before this video-game stylized revenge story is complete.
The members of the Van Der Koy family include an inspiring cast of characters. Joining the previously mentioned Janssen is Downton Abbey’s Michelle Dockery, comedian and actor Brett Gelman, the always energized Sharlto Copley, and a helmet-wearing mystery warrior played by Jessica Rothe. Boy teams with a couple of other wild resistant fighters in Andrew Koji and Isaiah Mustafa. All of these characters add a sense of humor and insanity while being formidable opponents. The dedication of the actors sells the film, but none more so than our lead. The cartoony, smart alec, lazy dad voice of H. Jon Benjamin truly delivers the film’s levity in the entire situation. But it’s also the impressive visual performance from Bill Skarsgård, who clearly is channeling the great silent actors of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton. His child-like demeanor perfectly encapsulates this goofy inner-monologue. But then juxtaposing that wide-eyed innocence with this toned physique and wickedly dangerous martial arts makes for a solid popcorn theater flick.
Director Moritz Mohr keeps BOY KILLS WORLD at a lean 111 minutes, which is perfect for this light on its feet, R-rated blood bath. BOY KILLS WORLD moves quickly and violently mixing humor and brutality, which is definitely a specific recommendation for those who are into the genre. The dual performance of physical actor and narration for “Boy” is on another level walking an impossible line of action-packed laughs.
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