‘BOY KILLS WORLD’ IS VIOLENT, FUNNY AND SO, SO STRANGE
What is the plot of ‘Boy Kills World?’
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Boy (Bill Skarsgård) has been raised by the Mentor (Yayan Ruhian, known for his iconic performance in “The Raid” and its sequels). He has devoted his life to training for one thing: to kill Hilda Van Der Koy (Famke Janssen), the despotic leader of the dystopian society he lives in.
Every year The Culling takes place, a kind of “Purge” or “Hunger Games”-like event in which anyone deemed disloyal to Hilda is publicly executed. Boy’s strongest memories are of his family being killed. He was rendered deaf and mute after being tortured. This is a revenge situation.
Also: H. Jon Benjamin – Bob in “Bob’s Burgers” – provides the voice for Boy’s thoughts, automatically rendering them about 20% funnier than they would have been. So bonus points for that.
The Mentor leads Boy through years of brutal training, waiting until he is ready to try to carry out his lifelong goal. It takes a while.
When his moment arrives, it’s fairly early in
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We meet great character actors like Brett Gelman along the way
Along the way we meet some great character actors: Michelle Dockery of “Downton Abbey” as Hilda’s daughter Melanie who is, no kidding, the evil public-relations mastermind of The Culling; the great Brett Gelman (“Fleabag,” “Stranger Things”), who controls the streets despite being kind of a drunken dope who really just wants to write plays; and Sharlto Copley as Hilda’s dimwitted husband who hosts the broadcast of The Culling because they think he looks good on camera.
Jessica Rothe of the “Happy Death Day” movies is June 27, the head of the security detail that protects Hilda and the rest, and who seem to have gotten their idea for uniforms by watching “Kill Bill” too many times.
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‘Boy Kills World’ is a strong start for director Moritz Mohr
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If you’re going to make a pull-out-all-the-stops movie, you have to, you know, pull out the stops. Mohr does, and he gets complete buy-in from his cast, who seems to be having as much fun romping around shooting and stabbing and maiming each other as the audience does watching them.
About that. This is a truly violent movie, with the spirit of a Hong Kong action film. You’re either in for the snaps of broken bones and the arterial spray of a clean decapitation, or you’re not.
It’s nobody’s masterpiece, but it is an exceptionally promising start for Mohr, making his feature debut as a director.
If you’re up for this kind of movie, you could do a lot worse than “Boy Kills World.”
Reach Goodykoontz at bill.goodykoontz@arizonarepublic.com. Facebook: facebook.com/ GoodyOnFilm. X: @goodyk. Subscribe to the weekly movies newsletter.