Boy Kills World (2023)

The voice inside Boy’s head comes from an arcade game he loved as a kid, H. Jon Benjamin does the talking, and it’s somehow the best-written character in Boy Kills World. Bill Skarsgård plays Boy, who can’t hear or speak and lives in a city under the thumb of the Van Der Koys, the ruling family he blames for losing his mother and sister. A mysterious Shaman trained him for years, and now he wants payback. Skarsgård throws everything he has into it, all physical comedy and wide eyes, like a silent film star dropped into a video game. The movie around him stacks one gimmick on top of another, and the villains, played by Famke Janssen, Michelle Dockery and Brett Gelman, are cardboard. It’s very violent, and it’s not for kids. It holds a 58% on Rotten Tomatoes. A 5.3 because Skarsgård is all in and the story isn’t. $1,042 says you go hunting online for the arcade game from this movie before the credits end, and yes, it exists.

What works: Bill Skarsgård’s fully committed, wordless physical performance is a blast, and the arcade game voice in his head adds real comic energy.

What doesn’t: The characters are thin, the plot is predictable, and the movie piles gimmick on gimmick until it feels muddled and tiring.

Who it’s for: Grown-up action fans who love style over story, and anyone who wants to see Skarsgård play a live-action cartoon.