Year of Release: 2026
Director: Kirill Sokolov
Starring: Zazie Beetz, Patricia Arquette, Paterson Joseph, Heather Graham, Tom Felton, Willie Ludik, Myha'la, David Viviers, Gabe Gabriel, James Remar, Viktoria Korotkova
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 2
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Synopsis and Review
"They Will Kill You" is a production from the Muschietti siblings, who have been responsible for "It" and "The Flash", all under the Warner Bros. banner. The film follows the story of Asia Reaves, whom we first encounter trying to escape her abusive father with her young sister in tow. He soon catches up with them, and following a heated situation, Asia ends up in prison, and her young sister back in the claws of the abuser. 10 years go by, and Asia gets released from prison. She goes after her sister, who is now working at a place by the name of Virgil, an exclusive high-rise in NY. She introduces herself as someone else, a cleaning woman who was supposed to come for a job, and Lily Woodhouse, the manager of the building, explains a bit of the history of the building and its occupants. Everything seems fine, until during the night while Asia is asleep, she's attacked by a slew of individuals. She wards them off, and kills a few in the process, much to their surprise, who were expecting a docile and powerless woman. Lily is furious at the outcome of the situation, and warns Asia there's no escape. Asia in the meantime explains she's there for her sister, and won't leave without her. Much to Asia's surprise and shock, all her attackers come back to life: she hides in the vents of the building while she tries to figure out a strategy to get Maria and escape these killers. Ray, Lily's husband, comes to her rescue, and explains the truth behind the building, his wife, and the attackers.
These days not many people remember the name Timur Bekmambetov, but twenty something years ago he made a splash stateside with the films "Night Watch" and "Day Watch", which were huge hits in Russia. Those films opened the doors for him to direct "Wanted" which turned out to be his biggest hit so far. He followed "Wanted" with "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" and the remake of "Ben Hur", films that landed with poor reviews and meager audience attendance. Why am I bringing this name into this review? Kirill Sokolov also hails from Russia, and prior to this film he has tackled a few shorts and two feature films, which apparently granted him the keys to this film with a solid cast and great production values. Sadly that's where this film ends. The film has more than obvious references to Quentin Tarantino, Walter Hill, and even Michael Davis' "Shoot 'Em Up", sadly without much of the humor, or point of view these film makers have displayed in their films (well at least Mr. Tarantino and Mr. Hill). There are no characters in this film, just disposable puppets who meet their end in various situations of carnage, which in premise may seem fun, but in reality is not. And it's not funny, because this film doesn't have enough smarts to play with concepts of entitlement, economic disparity, or even racial profiling, instead using violence as a slapstick moment that grows old very quickly. Turns out, exuberant death scenes only mean anything when there's a bit of character development to illustrate why they deserve some of the fate they're (repeatedly) experiencing. What's left after all this is said and done: Zazie Beetz and Patricia Arquette are solid actresses who deserve better material, but who at least get a lion share of attention, while Tom Felton and the underused Heather Graham are just fodder for the killing grinding that occurs during the film. The production team is solid, giving the film enough of a stylized look to make it watchable. That includes Carlos Rafael Rivera's score, Isaac Bauman's cinematography, and Jeremy Reed's production design. This is a formula driven film that doesn't live up to the pretension it has or the films that is inspired by. It's a pass.
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