Boy Kills World Movie Review

“Boy Kills World” is a violent and brutal tale of vengeance, mayhem, and squalid blood-lust. But under the gore-soaked exterior is a dark comedy heart of zany mismatches that bring the gallows humor to a high level. In a future world of dystopian terror, one ‘Boy’ shall rise to free them all.

There is a distant, dank future, in which the country is run by the corrupt van der Koy family. The murderous matriarch is Hilda van der Koy (played by Famke Janssen). With daughter Melanie van der Koy (played by Michelle Dockery) and son Gideon van der Koy (played by Brett Gelman) – Hilda rules with an iron fist. The group has established an annual event named ‘The Culling’, in which enemies of Hilda are rounded up and taken out.

Hilda has long since descended into madness, and now Melanie and Gideon are in charge. Melanie’s husband, Glen van der Koy (played by Sharlto Copley) is a popular TV personality. With him as the face of the dictatorship, the public feels more secure.

Melanie runs the publicity for the group, and she has a major brand to sponsor the TV presentation of ‘The Culling’. They also have a sadistic police and population control troops. These are led by a buff lady named June 27 (played by Jessica Rothe).

Hilda van der Koy has only one remaining major enemy. This is a person who lives secluded in the forests that surround the City. This thorn in the side of Hilda is called the Shaman (played by Yayan Ruhian). He is an older fellow, but well-trained in mysticism and the martial arts. He has one huge asset, and that is a young boy whom he had saved from a prior Culling many years ago. This boy is conveniently named Boy.

Now in the present, Boy (played by Bill Skarsgård) has been trained and guided by the Shaman to be a singular weapon. Boy is fit and muscular, trained by the best instructor in all the land. He lost his hearing and his voice during a time long ago at the Culling that saw his young sister and his sweet mother killed. Since that point, Boy has not been able to talk to any one, and he does not hear any spoken words. He has trained himself to read lips.

Boy is strong, well-trained and capable of being the weapon that can end the disgusting reign of the van der Koy family. He cannot speak, but we can hear Boy’s Inner Voice (voiced by H. Jon Benjamin). Boy chose this voice from an arcade video fight game as a child. Boy’s Inner Voice gives a running monologue on the events that occur, with a huge sarcastic edge to his unspoken words.

Boy trained in the forest, with only Shaman as his mentor and guide. But he still does have one other companion, the imaginary specter of his dead young sister – Mina (played by Quinn Copeland). She keeps Boy grounded, by making him realize that being big and strong and ready to overthrow the van der Koy family will not bring his mother back. But Boy is focused on the training and the single-issue of revenge.

On the day of this year’s Culling, Boy and the Shaman go into the City. Shaman says it is not time — Boy is not ready for what is to come. Boy does not believe that and gets into the van der Koy facility. There he meets a fellow rebel named Basho (played by Andrew Koji). They also happen to run into Glen van der Koy, as he is getting ready for the big corporate-sponsored Culling TV show. However, Basho has ‘sweaty palms’ and soon Glen has a face that would not look good on a national TV broadcast.

Basho joins up with another rebel who will help them take down the despot family. This is Benny (played by Isaiah Mustafa), who is also big and strong. But he has a full beard, and mumbles too much. Boy attempts to read his lips to learn the plan of attack. But all he can read out of what Benny’s lips say is ‘Dodo mosh-pit elevator’. So, with no plan — Boy and Benny and Basho get into van der Koy Mansion to raise some van der Koy Mayhem.

Boy becomes a ‘Master Chef’ as his disguise, and he has some creative uses for a cheese grater. Boy is separated from Benny and Basho. But he still has a constant companion in his imagined ghost sister – Mina. Unfortunately, Mina is there just at the wrong time to distract Boy during a fight with the incredibly toned June 27. She is a master fighter and martial arts expert on par with Shaman.

Boy is captured and has a talk with Gideon van der Koy. He tells Boy that sister Melanie is still planning on the televised ‘Culling’ TV show, with the backing of a major sponsor. And now Boy can be a very special guest — unless he can find a means to escape (hint, hint). Boy is delivered into the surreal TV landscape of a full-blown TV commercial for a sugary cereal.

But this version has the victims being slaughtered instead of enjoying a sweet bowl of breakfast joy. It’s a good thing that his friends, Basho and Benny, are there undercover to help Boy make his escape. So with the bizarre sight of a bright and cheery cereal commercial landscape – there is blood-drenched mayhem and ultra-violent fighting all around. Perfect for selling more boxes of sugary sweets!

Soon, only Boy is left standing. He goes to find Hilda, for that final kill. But he is met at the bunker by June 27, in all of her armor. He meets Hilda and learns some secret stuff that was kept from him all these years. Old allies become enemies, and a new alliance is forged. Boy’s world is turned upside down. And the violence kicks up a level – if that is possible.

“Boy Kills World” takes a darkly sarcastic view of this dystopian world. There is over-the-top gore and brutality, along with super dark comedy. Moritz Mohr has come up with a brilliant, yet gritty, scenario in which the main character is focused on getting revenge.

Bill Skarsgård is a strong protagonist as Boy, and extremely buff. His role has no dialog, yet Boy’s Inner Voice comes across loud and clear. Getting an animated TV comedy series star (H. Jon Benjamin from “Bob’s Burgers”) gives the movie a comic angle that works perfectly. Yayan Ruhian (the Shaman) is also well-cast as a martial arts teacher.

If there is any complaint, it is that many of the fight scenes are highly edited and cut up quite a bit. Many scenes are shot in the dark and that takes away from the wonderful combat choreography. The overall story line is a bit silly, especially towards the ending.

“Boy Kills World” is a great, bloody, action-packed hard-R mayhem festival of a film. If you like very dark humor, and can tolerate the intense gore level, then you might find that this movie ‘kills’ it just fine!