There’s a lot to admire about They Will Kill You, the new hyper-violent action comedy from director Kirill Sokolov — but almost none of it sticks once the credits roll. It’s the kind of movie that looks incredible in the moment, delivers a few genuinely fun action beats, and then evaporates from your brain about two days later.
The film stars Zazie Beetz as a woman who takes a job at a luxury New York high-rise where, unsurprisingly, everything is not as it seems. The wealthy residents are trying to kill her, but she’s also hiding her own agenda — she’s searching for her long-lost younger sister, played by Myha’la. Toss in supporting turns from Patricia Arquette, Tom Felton, and Heather Graham, and you’ve got a cast that’s easy to like, even if the material doesn’t give them much to do.
Stylistically, the movie clearly wants to live somewhere between The Raid and Ready or Not, with a heavy splash of Quentin Tarantino-style gore and over-the-top violence. Heads get blown off with shotguns, characters regenerate after making deals with the devil, and the final act veers into full-blown weird territory involving a giant pig-headed devil figure. It’s absurd, messy, and occasionally very fun.
Where the film really shines is in its technical execution. The production design is phenomenal — the high-rise feels like a labyrinth of hidden corridors, mechanical crawlspaces, and stylized rooms. There’s a standout sequence where Beetz crawls through the inner structure between floors, and another excellent fight scene involving an axe wrapped in cloth and set on fire, doubling as both weapon and torch in a dark room. There are probably four action set pieces here that genuinely work, and they’re choreographed with real energy.
And Beetz absolutely carries the movie. This is a physical, bruising performance where she’s getting thrown around, fighting constantly, and seemingly doing much of the stunt work herself. Even when the story stalls — which it often does — she keeps the movie watchable.
Unfortunately, the story never matches the style. The premise feels overly familiar, especially coming right on the heels of another rich-people-hunting-a-woman setup. The resurrection gimmick quickly becomes repetitive, the pacing is odd (despite a short runtime, it somehow feels long), and the last 15–20 minutes take a turn that doesn’t quite land. It’s a movie that keeps escalating visually but never emotionally or narratively.
This also feels like a classic January release — a flashy, disposable action experiment — rather than something dropping in the middle of a stronger theatrical run. Especially compared to bigger, more memorable releases still dominating conversation, this one just doesn’t leave a mark.
That’s really the best way to describe They Will Kill You: it’s not bad, but it’s barely passable. It looks fantastic, delivers a few fun fight scenes, and features a terrific, committed performance from Zazie Beetz — but beyond that, there’s not much here. It’s the definition of a hungover Sunday streaming movie.
You won’t hate it.
You might even enjoy parts of it.
But you probably won’t remember it by Tuesday.
They Will Kill You = 59/100
