A fever dream action film that follows Boy, a deaf person with a vibrant imagination. When his family is murdered, he is trained by a mysterious shaman to repress his childish imagination and become an instrument of death.

Boy Kills World is a frenetic and quirky action comedy set in a future totalitarian state where dissent is quashed and turned into prime time television. Bill Skarsgård plays Boy, a deaf mute trained for years in advanced combat and survival skills by an unnamed Shaman (Yayan Ruhian) for the sole purpose of exacting revenge upon the ruling Van Der Koy family, for the murder of his entire family years before.

Bill Skarsgård is great here, he fully commits to this role entirely absent of dialogue. He is ripped and clearly had combat training to prepare for the film as he convincingly crushes his fight scenes. He acts with his facial expressions and physicality, perfectly complementing  H. Jon Benjamin’s performance as Boy’s inner monologue. Benjamin is characteristically excellent, however how successful his presence is will depend on how much you've signed up to director Moritz Mohr’s sense of humor.

The film is fast paced and action packed, but always takes the time to let that sense of humor of Mohr’s out, even at times to its own slight detriment. This might be something like a ridiculous, cartoonish enemy Boy has to fight, or a moment of realisation punctuated by a non sequitur. The humor does fit the world the filmmakers have developed, in its garish furtuism that is vaguely Hunger Games flavoured, but your mileage may vary on how successful it is.

Boy Kills World has the makings of becoming either a cult classic or just an oddball action picture with a great silent performance from Bill Skarsgård. The jury is still out on which way history will remember this film, so all the more reason to go see it and decide for yourself.

★★

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