“Boy Kills World” is a dystopian revenge story with humorous interludes, a deranged edge, and eccentric, quirky characters.

The movie stars Bill Skarsgard as Boy; who following a tragedy has been left mute and has trained under the tutelage of a Shaman (Yayan Ruhian) to exact his revenge against homicidal matriarch Hilda Van Der Koy (Famke Janssen), who rules the city with an iron fist and holds an annual culling event to eliminate those that she classifies as a threat.

Boy finds his way into a small resistance group with the intention of infiltrating an annual family gathering which will allow him to exact his revenge.

Despite his best intentions and a flurry of violence including a very creative way to dispatch enemies with a cheese grater, Boy finds himself a draw for the televised culling which provides a televised massacre sponsored by a serial company complete with cartoonish characters committing acts of violence. What follows is a frantic over-the-top sequence of brutal action interspace with some clever lines from H. Jon Benjamin who provides the inner narration for Boy. Quin Copeland provides some fun moments as the ghost of Boy’s sister who steals her scenes with her whimsical charm that often offsets the violence sequences that follow.

Jessica Rothe also provides a great character as June 27 as an assassin with a signboard helmet that signals her thoughts in lieu of speaking.

While the film certainly entertains; at a nearly two-hour runtime it did drag in places and made me think that trimming 30 minutes would have produced a tighter and more intense offering. While this might have detracted from some of the quirkier character moments, the narrative is not overly complex and features a nice twist and some ultraviolent sequences.

The film succeeds but does not reach its potential, but there is enough here to keep viewers engaged and entertained.

3.5 stars out of 5

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