You don’t exactly forget a title like They Will Kill You in a hurry. It’s blunt and striking, part-warning and part-explanation – e.g. this is what will happen to you at the hands of this mad group who are out to murder you. A little like Get Out, though not quite as clever. Which, interestingly, is a good analogy for the film.
In They Will Kill You, from writer-director Kiril Sokolov, Asia Reaves (yes, that’s the character’s name), played by Zazie Beetz, is released from prison a decade after shooting her abusive father. An attempt to trace her estranged sister Maria (Myha’la) leads her to a mysterious New York apartment building called The Virgil, whose reputation precedes it, harbouring a century-old history of disappearances. Misleading the staff into believing she’s the new maid, she’s shown around by the icy superintendent Lily (Patricia Arquette doing her best Mrs Danvers impression), meeting a coterie of wealthy weirdos (Heather Graham amongst them) and the rest of the housekeeping staff who seem to be hiding something. When Asia’s room is invaded in the night by creepy, cloaked strangers wearing pig masks, things escalate apace. Is she done for?
Turns out – nope, she very much isn’t. Asia is revealed to possess such an experienced martial arts skillset that it would leave Uma Thurman’s Bride in Kill Bill quivering. As she slices and dices her way through the villainous troupe, severed limbs akimbo, it’s quickly revealed they’re part of an immortal satanic cult. The exchange for immortality? Human sacrifices, of which she is next. Cue Asia hurtling off through the sealed building in search of both her sister and an escape hatch.
Everything in They Will Kill You feels borrowed to some extent. Sam Raimi and Quentin Tarantino are the most blatant inspirations, especially when the martial arts scenes arise. A slickly choreographed combination of Kill Bill and Evil Dead, everything that can be spliced and splattered does so, and although they’re a lot of fun, the movie’s tone is swiftly swapped at this instance from a Polanski- or Ready Or Not-esque creep-fest to all-out comedy-horror. Comic books are a clear influence too, but more notably, video games, the hotel setting lending the film a distinctly video game feel as Asia darts and ducks her way from floor to floor like literal new levels, defending herself against a slew of immortal baddies and befriending a vigilante janitor (Paterson Joseph with a Southern American drawl) en route. There’s even a scene where Asia does battle with the ultimate Final Boss, and another where she shuffles through the crawl space while dodging a knife, making this only the second time we’ve seen this exact scene in a horror movie in 2026 (I’m looking at you, Scream 7). Is there something in the water since crawl spaces were nowhere and suddenly everywhere? Pretty sure the only time I’d seen this onscreen beforehand was in that one episode of Breaking Bad and Bob’s Burgers.
The video game style works well, even if it prevents the film from having anything particularly deep to say. Although Rebecca and Rosemary’s Baby are obvious influences, They Will Kill You is neither of them, nor does it try to be. It knows exactly what it is, and its refusal to take itself seriously is its saving grace. Its supporting cast is intentionally comedic, from Tom Felton (who, along with Rupert Grint in Knock at the Cabin, is another ex-Harry Potter star giving horror a go) and Heather Graham, who spends much of the movie’s second act headless. The chase scene after Asia blasts her head off is one of the film’s funniest moments, and the experimental creativity with makeup and VFX really makes this part. Having Graham’s severed eyeball ricocheting its way up a stairway as her head reassimilates, and later having her look like Harry the Hunter in Beetlejuice, is a choice, a sort of ridiculous feature entertaining in its abject nuttiness. The film’s third act, when the final siege takes place, is totally bonkers, even if, by that point, you’ve suspended your disbelief so much that the film feels like it’s on another planet entirely.
Is They Will Kill You particularly deep? No, and its attempts to shoehorn in an “eat-the-rich” trope aren’t as effective as something like The Menu or The Platform. But in general, the film works and is a lot of fun, mostly owing not to its rapid-fire fight scenes or moments of well-timed comedy but to the sheer watchability of Beetz. She navigates the plot’s silliness like a seasoned professional, however ludicrous things get, a film that lives and dies on this performance, and as she slices her way through the supporting players, you’re rooting for her the whole way. Absurd? Yes. Entertaining? Absolutely. I look forward to They Will Kill You (Again), the inevitable sequel.
★★★★
In UK cinemas on March 27th / Zazie Beetz, Myha’la, Heather Graham, Tom Felton, Patricia Arquette, Paterson Joseph / Dir: Kirill Sokolov / Warner Bros Pictures, New Line Cinema / 18
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