F*** Marry Kill

🎥 Plot Overview

F** Marry Kill* tells the story of Eva Vaughn (Lucy Hale), a true-crime fan with a passion for online dating. Just on her 30 birthday, combined with the push from her friends, Eva finally decides to log onto dating apps and is met with three distinct suitors:

• Kyle: A flirty classmate of hers with a special love for rosé.
• Mitch: Charming bar owner with a unique trait—he has no fingerprints.
• Norman: A forensics student who moonlights as a security installer and has an air of intrigue surrounding him.

Simultaneously, Eva is now obsessed with Mark My Murder, a podcast chronicling the unsolved murders by the infamous ‘Swipe Right Killer’. As pieces of the dating podcast start resonating with her dates in real life, she becomes increasingly convinced one of her dates may be hiding a lethal secret. Alongside her best buddies and fiercely protective sister Valerie (Brooke Nevin), she is on an amusing yet terrifying journey to reveal the killer before she falls victim.

🌟 Main Cast

• Lucy Hale as Eva Vaughn
• Virginia Gardner as Kelly
• Brooke Nevin as Valerie
• Samer Salem as Norman
• Jedidiah Goodacre as Kyle
• Brendan Morgan as Mitch
• Bethany Brown as Robin
• JayR Tinaco as Anthony

🖋️ Themes and Tone

F** Marry Kill* blends the contemporary practice of online dating with the thrill of a murder mystery seamlessly. Its central themes involve:

• The peril of modern relationships – Trust, vulnerability, and deceit within digital courtship.
• Consumption of reality crime – A critique of society’s obsession and distortion with the media.
• Agency and survival of infatuation – The development of Eva as an unengaged dater to a motivated, self-styled detective.
• Friendship and devotion – Examining the strength of female solidarity in the face of terror.

The tone is a mix of playful and suspenseful, and can best be described as self-aware, with shifts from light-hearted banter to dark tension.

🎞️ Style and Cinematography

The upbeat aesthetic of F** Marry Kill was created by Laura Murphy showcasing her directorial vision which contrasts the soothing essence of the upbeat rom com with the underlying darker tone of murder mystery. This is evident in the use of:

Bold, vibrant lifestyle visuals for the dating scenes as well as during parties.

Darker and tighter frames during ambiguous or suspenseful scenes.

A lively contemporary soundtrack that aligns with the personality and lifestyle of Eva.

The combination of rom com visuals with the pacing of thrillers ensures that the audience is both entertained and suspenseful without the film taking itself too seriously.

⭐ Reception

A mixed critical reception was awarded to F** Marry Kill* praising the concept and energy while criticizing the tone balance.

What Was Praised:

Hale received positive remarks for her portrayal due to her comedic timing and charming delivery.

Fans of the genre appreciated the satire concerning the dating and true crime culture.

Her performance was kept interesting by the snappy pacing throughout its entire 97-minute runtime.

What Was Criticized:

Some critics found the plot twists too predictable.

There were imbalances in the areas concerning horror and humor.

Eva’s supporting characters were less developed than her character’s story arc.

📺 Final Thoughts

F** Marry Kill* is a slick and fast paced addition to dark comedies that adds a millennial spin to the genre of murder mysteries. The film does not qualify as the most thrilling mystery to grace the screen, but is an entertaining take on the paranoia of getting ‘swipe wrong’ in the world of online dating and an obsession with true crime.

This piece is ideal for viewers who enjoy the likes of “Only Murders in the Building”, “Ready or Not,” and “Promising Young Woman” with their suspenseful, witty, and satirical twists.