Boy Kills World stars Bill Skarsgård as a deaf and mute fighter seeking bloody vengeance for the murder of his family. His targets are the ruthless van der Koy siblings. They rule a post-apocalyptic city with an iron fist. Famke Janssen co-stars as Hilda van der Koy, a paranoid and psychotic tyrant hellbent on finding a long-lost enemy. Brett Gelman portrays Gideon, Hilda’s younger brother. He writes scripts for their theatrical massacres, which are directed by Melanie van der Koy (Michelle Dockery), the middle sister and true brains behind the cruel dynasty.

Boy Kills World surprises by giving the antagonists real, interesting depth. Janssen “added a lot of things that weren’t in [the script] just to humanize her and to make her seem truly insane.” Gelman felt that Gideon had a “sadness to him” because of “wanting to be a writer and not be a dictator anymore.” He further comments, “There was a lot of complexity in the script. That’s part of what drew me to the movie.”

German director Moritz Mohr has a stunning debut in his first feature film. Janssen was “very impressed with what he did.” The film “exceeded” her “personal expectations” and rewarded a “leap of faith.” She’s worked with many “first-time feature directors. It helped that Sam Raimi was involved as a producer.” Gelman also credits Mohr’s “proof of concept” short shown to the actors as a “fully realized vision.” Neither had any interest in the intense physical training and fight choreography Skarsgård endured. Gelman jokes, “I’d be like eating pasta. He’d be doing chin-ups outside of his trailer.” Please watch above and read below our complete interview with Famke Janssen and Brett Gelman.

Boy Kills World 3.5/5 Release Date April 26, 2024 Director Moritz Mohr Runtime 115 Minutes Writers Tyler Burton Smith , Arend Remmers , Moritz Mohr

The Truly Insane Hilda van der Koy

MovieWeb: You guys are so diabolical in the film. Was it fun to play such ruthless characters?

Famke Janssen: I enjoy doing it.

Brett Gelman: Yeah, it’s a blast. Always fun to play a fun villain, you know?

MovieWeb: Neither of your characters has a traditional villain arc, the story goes in unexpected directions. Did that also surprise you in the script?

Famke Janssen: It was partly in the script. But I added a lot of things that weren’t in it just to humanize her and to make her seem more, truly insane. Like someone who has completely lost it [laughs]. So yeah, that was definitely the thing that I added to the character.

MovieWeb: What about Gideon?

Brett Gelman: I feel like that’s part of what drew me to the movie was the fact that they had written him with this sadness to him. And wanting to be a writer, and not be a dictator anymore, so that there was a lot of complexity in the script. And that way, in the midst of this crazy story, I felt that could really fuel him and was obviously fueling him.

MovieWeb: Gideon would be a great script supervisor.

Brett Gelman: Oh my God, maybe [laughs].

A Misunderstood Writer

MovieWeb: Let’s talk about the director, Moritz Mohr. He absolutely blows this film out of the water in his first feature. You guys have been around for a while and have a lot of experience. What was it like working with him as a first-time director?

Famke Janssen: Yes, the thing about my career is I’ve taken many leaps of faith working with directors who are first-time feature directors. You never know. You can get a sense of their previous work, shorts or things like that. But ultimately, you’re taking a leap of faith. You don’t know if they’re going to be able to pull it off or not.

Famke Janssen: Obviously, it helped that Sam Raimi was involved as a producer. He [Moritz Mohr] had made a reel where we already knew what kind of ideas he had. But it exceeded my personal expectations of this, in terms of how elevated it was, with production design, costume design, and all of it, this hyper-reality comic, video game-like world. So, I’m very impressed with what he did.

Related Boy Kills World Review: A Wild Ride Not for the Faint of Heart The deaf and mute Boy (Bill Skarsgård) swears vengeance against ruthless oppressors after his family’s murder.

Brett Gelman: To me, I’d known he’d done a lot of work before. And certainly, the proof of concept that he sent us, I just saw as something that was like a fully realized vision as a filmmaker. So, in my experience in the past, having worked with directors who are making their first feature, and who have made shorts, but their shorts are amazing. It’s the same thing, as long as they stay true to their vision, and stay true to that confidence that they had with the shorts.

Brett Gelman: It’s just a longer period of filming. And so, I felt really excited about that. I try to always treat a director like I put myself in their hands. That’s what I got to do. But he was like a great, great collaborator. And I knew that. I knew that from his vibe from when we first met. He was very giving in his energy, and I’m good at knowing when that’s real, and when that’s fake, and it was clear that it was real with him.

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No Messing with Boy

MovieWeb: There is a lot of gunplay from you guys. But this is like an ass-kicking action flick. Was there ever a point in time where you guys were like, you know what, we want to kind of get in and do the fisticuffs? Did you ever want to jump in and try to fight Boy?

Brett Gelman: No [laughs].

Famke Janssen: No, he was training seven hours a day.

Brett Gelman: Yeah, I’d be eating pasta. He’d be doing chin-ups outside his trailer, you know? No [laughs].

Famke Janssen: There’s no messing with that.

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Brett Gelman: Hey, I love a good fight scene. I would have done it if they wanted me to, but knew that I wasn’t. You know what you’re showing up to do. So, if they would have thrown a fight scene at me at the last minute, it would have been a hassle. Yeah, it would have been stressful. You don’t want to get hurt. You put two actors in, and you don’t properly rehearse that scene. Come on, we’re nuts, somebody’s going to get punched in the throat or something like that accidentally.

Famke Janssen: Yeah, I’ve done my fair share in the past. I’m grateful I wasn’t in one of them.

Brett Gelman: I was good. I was good with what I was given, even though I would have gladly done it. Had I known that was what I came to do. Those are complicated scenes to shoot too.

Boy Kills World will be released theatrically on April 26th from Roadside Attractions and Lionsgate. You can watch the trailer below.