They Will Kill You review
They Will Kill You manages to not be what you think while delivering exactly what you thought.
New movie reviews will not contain spoilers.
They Will Kill You
Directed by Kirill Sokolov
Screenplay by Kirill Sokolov and Alex Litvak
Starring Zazie Beetz, Myha’la, Paterson Joseph, Tom Felton, Heather Graham, Armando Rivera and Patricia Arquette
They Will Kill You Review
I was certain that this review of They Will Kill You would end up being a comparison to Ready or Not. The two have more than one thing in common, after all. Both are about a woman being hunted around a big estate by the societal elite. It turns out…they have even more in common than that…but we’ll get to that in a second. Instead, as They Will Kill You began to unfold, I realized that this review would end up being at least a little bit about marketing. I don’t bring up marketing very often…usually when a movie drops the ball as hard as, say, Knock at the Cabin did. They Will Kill You pulls off the opposite. It presented a trailer that told you it was one thing…and then delivered something even better.
More importantly…it also delivers exactly what the trailer leaves you expecting from it. They Will Kill You is, in fact, a bloody night for a woman hunted by a hotel full of people. When I saw the trailer I even wondered why it was labeled as a horror film. A bloody action movie…sure. Maybe even an action/comedy. I wasn’t sure where the horror came in until around the end of Act 1. Similar to Ready or Not, They Will Kill You sees its rich people in line with Satan. They need a human sacrifice…and that falls on poor Asia (Zazie Beetz). As you probably gleaned from the trailer…Asia is shockingly capable of fighting back.
Everyone in They Will Kill You is lying about something. Patricia Arquette’s character certainly isn’t forthcoming about the ritual they plan on using Asia for. And Asia…well…she’s on a secret mission of her own. Her younger sister has gone missing…last seen inside the very hotel Asia is now posing as a new hire for. Those aren’t the only secrets that They Will Kill You is protecting. And its secrets are likely to prove divisive for people who wanted a simple, bloody action romp. It turns out…this is much more of a horror movie than its marketing would ever leave you predicting. Horror fans may eat it up. Genre haters…well…they’re gonna hate, aren’t they?
When I tell you that They Will Kill You is over-the-top…I mean it in every aspect of its production. The violence is gloriously blood splattered. Pieces hacked off…comically large blood sprays…ridiculous set pieces of non-stop violent action. The horror elements that I’m purposely leaving out of this non-spoiler review…they’re gloriously over-the-top too. You wouldn’t believe where They Will Kill You ends up in its climactic scenes if you just watched that trailer. That’s one of the great joys of watching its wild night unfold…and what makes it one of the strongest marketing efforts in recent memory. The trailer gives you plenty to intrigue you about the movie…and then delivers what you wanted from it…and things you never expected.
Beetz shines as Asia. She’s a total badass who anchors multiple stylish action set pieces. She’s believable as an unexpected reckoning for the elite among the building’s residents. Nothing is going to stop her from finding out what happened to her sister…even finding herself in multiple impossible situations. They Will Kill Her is the epitome of “there’s no way out of this one”. The impossible odds make Asia an easy protagonist to root for. Beetz makes her fun to cheer for.
The rogue’s gallery Asia is up against is full of actors who completely understood the kind of movie they were in. Arquette and company are having a blast with how absurd They Will Kill You allows them to be. I wish I could tell you some of the ridiculous things they get up to…but it would spoil some of the fun. I can’t even reference the movies that it reminds me of without spoiling some of what it gets up to…but it’s completely worth checking into on your own. Even if you end up on the hater side of the equation…you’ll have a much easier time checking out than Asia does.
Walking into They Will Kill You I thought about how unfortunate it was for a similar film to hit theaters just a week after Ready or Not 2: Here I Come. It beats that anticipated sequel at its own game by introducing some ridiculousness to the proceedings instead of doubling down on what the original Ready or Not dealt out. That ridiculousness (and some of it is truly wild) will be a turn off for many viewers. If you’ve found your way to this website…it might be right up your alley.
Scare Value
Several jaw dropping sequences highlight the consistently stylish and fun They Will Kill You. It’s not just action scenes that do so. The horror elements of the story lead to some truly outlandish moments that left me with a smile plastered on my face. Yes, many will bristle at how weird some of the swings in They Will Kill You end up being. But it makes for some truly fun genre fare. Even as the marketing purposefully keeps it out of sight until you can experience it as it was intended.
3.5/5
They Will Kill You Link
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