You’ll almost immediately feel the vibes through the first two acts of Moritz Mohr’s Boy Kills World. Mohr’s film is a bloody, vicious kick to the solar plexus. The script drives its foot into the wound and then keeps applying pressure, almost as a way to test the audience’s resolve.

That’s where Boy Kills World may come to a crossroads for its viewership. Either you will embrace the sudden acute aggression, pressing the foot on the pedal, or you will border on torture porn violence. Or be so turned off by it to the point of completely giving up on Mohr’s film.

As for me, I’ll take Mohr’s blood-spattering dose of glorious, gory, comic carnage that would make Jackson Pollack jealous.

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Boy Kills World Review and Synopsis

The story follows “Boy” (Bill Skarsgård), a deaf and speech-impaired young man who vows to avenge his family. As a child — we see in flashbacks — his mother and sister were murdered. They were shot down in a public square and demonstrated power by the wicked Hilda Van Der Koy (Famke Janssen). Hilda leads a corrupt, post-apocalyptic society, ruling with an iron hand.

Boy is taken in by the “shaman” (Star Wars: The Force Awakens‘s Yayan Ruhian), who pulls a Hanna, raising him to be a trained killer (and to tolerate a beating). The shaman is the leader of an eclectic group, continuing a campaign of anarchic vengeance. The training is hard, even torturous, and drives Boy to insanity, leading him to see and talk to his dead sister (Quinn Copeland).

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Boy Kills World is Gory, Comic Carnage

In order to enact his revenge, he must get help from Hilda’s loyal servants. They include Melanie (Michelle Dockery), the group’s communication director. Her brother, Glen (a hilarious Brett Gelman), serves as the muscle. Melanie’s husband, Gideon (a terrific Sharlto Copley), is the face of the operation, a star among the locals because of his eccentric flair.

Mohr and Arend Rammers wrote Boy Kills Word, an adaptation of their short film of the same name. Their film benefits from three things. Some jaw-dropping, bone-crunching, epic hand-to-hand action scenes, mainly from Skarsgård and Ruhian. The other is the superb guest spots by a charismatic Copley, an unhinged Gelman, and Dockery, doing her best Diana Christensen tribute.

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Is Boy Kills World Worth Watching?

The last is why Boy Kills World is worth watching – the ominously naive and incredulous comic delivery of the film’s narration. The original narration was Skarsgård when released at TIFF last year. However, in a rare Hollywood movie, they righted a wrong by Archer star H. Jon Benjamin. He singlehandedly saves the film.

Benjamin provides the type of sardonic brevity that the film desperately needs: a shot of levity. This addition pairs perfectly with Boy Kills World’s dark humor and satirization of the media, which comes off as a love child of Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory meets The Running Man. And yes, that’s a compliment.

The film’s third act is particularly graphic and hard to watch because it becomes gratuitous. Also, the twist is not as satisfying as one would expect. However, Boy Kills World is one hell of a ride that’s enthralling from the start and, at the very least, will hold your attention until the final brutal moments, which is saying something nowadays.

You can watch Boy Kills World only in theaters.

7/10

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