New to Me is a series here at The Nerds Templar where we discuss a film that has been out for a while. It’s most likely available on home video or streaming services, but it’s our first time seeing it. Hence, it’s “New to Me“!
For some reason over the past couple of years Lionsgate hasn’t screened (for press in Boston) a bunch of movies I would have been interested in seeing at the theater. I saw films like Rambo: Last Blood, Saw X, Silent Night, Borderlands, The Crow (remake) and most recently Den of Thieves 2: Pantera at the movies after their release or later on home video. Boy Kills World came out in 2024 (in the U.S.) and got the same treatment. After watching it last night, I’m kind of pissed I missed it on the big screen. It’s a cool action flick that would have had me cheering in my seat with the crowd.
If you like action movies like Monkey Man, Hardcore Henry, The Running Man or even The Hunger Games, you’ll dig Boy Kills World. It has a dystopian theme like The Hunger Games. It has an audience watching segment like The Running Man and a trained for revenge plot like Monkey Man (which is awesome and you need to see it). Bill Skarsgård plays Boy, a deaf-mute who seeks revenge on the Van Der Koys, a family who runs the dystopian city. He blames them for the deaths of his mother and sister. As a child he’s taken in by a shaman who trains him and prepares him for his objective, kill Hilda Van Der Koy. The shaman is played by Yayan Ruhian, Mad Dog in The Raid: Redemption. Boy hallucinates his younger sister wherever he goes and she is sort of his moral compass. He finally decides the time is right and sets out to get sweet, sweet revenge.
All of that is very cool and as a fan of The Raid franchise, having Yayan Ruhian in the film is a huge plus. I’m hit or miss on Skarsgård, but he got into ridiculous shape for the flick and does a lot of his own fighting. With him being mute, the movie does something so unexpected, it has H. Jon Benjamin as the “voice” of Boy. The voice of Archer and Bob from Bob’s Burgers narrates from Boy’s point of view and is absolutely hilarious. I’m a huge fan of Benjamin and had no idea he was involved in the film. Once the narration kicked in I was hooked. If you liked the concept of Silent Night (with Joel Kinnaman), but wondered what it would be like narrated by Sterling Archer, well Boy Kills World is the movie for you! H. Jon Benjamin’s narration brings so much to the film that without it, it wouldn’t be nearly as entertaining.
The supporting cast is great too. Jessica Rothe (from the underrated Happy Death Day franchise) is a nice surprise in a big action role as June 27, an enforcer for the Van Der Koys who wears a helmet. Brett Gelman gets laughs as a Van Der Koy brother as does Sharlto Copley who plays the husband of Famke Janssen’s Hilda. I’ve been a fan of Janssen since Goldeneye and she’s perfect for the villain. Michelle Dockery is flawless as a sociopath Van Der Koy sister. Isaiah Mustafa has scenes with Boy that get huge laughs because Boy can’t quite read his lips right and Benjamin’s interpretations are hilarious. Then there is Andrew Koji who I love. He played Storm Shadow in the terrible Snake Eyes flick, but Koji is a top notch action performer and really needs to land a film franchise lead.
After Boy heads out for revenge you think the film is almost over. It’s not, there’s about a half hour left because it has a big reveal/twist. I guessed part of it because one character you can probably figure out is someone different, but the whole twist worked well. I won’t hint at it, but because of it we get a fantastic 2 on 1 fight with Yayan Ruhian that might not rival his 2 on 1 in The Raid, but it’s well worth watching. I won’t say who else is in it, but it’s bloody and has some great action that will have you yelling and cheering even if you’re watching it by yourself.
Boy Kills World is a film I’ll definitely revisit. It has some of the best action segments of the past few years and if you liked Silent Night, Violent Night, Monkey Man and other martial arts based fighting flicks check this one out. It has the chaos of Guns Akimbo and Mayhem with segments of enclosed fighting like Dredd or The Raid: Redemption. I hope it becomes a cult classic down the road and it makes me wish Bill Skarsgård’s The Crow remake was as good as this.
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