Directed by Moritz Mohr
Starring Bill Skarsgård, Famke Janssen, Jessica Rothe, Michelle Dockery, Yayan Ruhian, Isaiah Mustafa, Andrew Koji, Quinn Copeland, Sharlto Copley, and H. Jon Benjamin

Credit to Boy Kills World for bringing a number of eccentric elements to its hackneyed premise. If nothing else, this rather forgettable experience can be remembered for at least being imaginative, even if what it attempts to do is more miss than it is hit.

Perhaps Boy Kills World is best described as a simplistic rendition of The Hunger Games, with irreverent humour in place of The Hunger Games’ notably serious tone and visual flamboyance. In the world in which Boy (performed by Bill Skarsgård) once resided and intends to kill, a dictatorship family dynasty who took everything from Boy when he was just a boy still rule their world. Unbeknown to them, Boy is not only still alive all these years later but is a highly trained and skilled fighter after years of tuition provided by Shaman (Yayan Ruhian) on the outskirts of the city in the forest. Now, shortly before “the culling”, an annual tradition warmly hosted by this aforementioned friendly family where 12 of its citizens are proudly executed, Boy returns seeking vengeance against all of those who wronged him.

One of the many ways Boy Kills World seeks to be an individual from its shared characteristics is the fact that Boy is deaf-mute. I have absolutely no issue with this decision. In fact, I think it’s a great one. I also am not interested in participating in any discourse surrounding the casting of a non-deaf-mute actor in the role of a deaf-mute character. One of the aspects I most admire about an actor acting is to witness their ability to portray a character with characteristics that are different to their own, but that is an entirely separate dialogue deserving of its own piece. The issues I had, and other audience members are bound to have, are self-inflicted by Boy Kills World. Why on Earth make your titular character deaf-mute to then fill the air with incessant dialogue representing Boy’s inner-thoughts speaking aloud to the visible ghost of his dead little sister (Quinn Copeland)!? If that weren’t difficult enough on its own to adjust to, then the grating voice work derived from a childhood video game performed by H. Jon Benjamin puts the nail on the coffin Boy emerged from. Yes, that’s right, Bill Skarsgård doesn’t even voice his own character’s inner thoughts. At the very least, a less is more approach here could’ve found a better balance. It also has its flaws or very questionable developments that reduce the credibility of what it intends to pull off. I’m not spoiling anything here by saying it was way too easy for Boy to firstly enter a city controlled by a dictatorship and then also to do so completely undetected, even just as a stranger. There are some pretty wacky visual effects that fare a bit better than other decisions that are made but come off as arbitrary in nature above all else. Boy Kills World comes closest to achieving the irreverent brand of humour it’s so desperately trying to nail when it simply expresses this via its actions. Its bloody and violent actions, more specifically, such as the accidental death caused by a member of a small resistance group that Boy joins. While it does have some cool ideas and action sequences, Boy Kills World never comes together as a cohesive film and brandishes a bunch of silly twists during its finale that leave everything feeling quite ludicrous. 

Oh, and you do not need to hang around for the post-credit’s scene either!

Boy Kills World is showing in cinemas across Australia from May 2nd.

Moviedoc thanks VVS Films and Nixco for the invitation to the screening of this film.

Review by Leigh for Moviedoc

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