They Will Kill You Review
This film is wild! A blast of fun, and plenty of blood and gore to go around.
A woman (Zazie Beetz) takes a job as a housekeep in an NYC high-rise, unaware of the building’s history of disappearances. She soon realizes the community is shrouded in mystery. But the community soon realises that so is she.
They Will Kill You is such a surprise. If you’ve seen the trailer, you don’t even know the half of it yet. It’s the sort of movie that gets more out there as it goes along, and is best viewed with as little pre-information as possible.
Kirill Sokolov brings such a joyous energy to this wild film that you can’t help but be engaged throughout. The action is bloody and brilliant, the cinematography at times inspired, the plot unexpected. There are moments where this feels Wes Anderson-y, and then next minute someone’s foot will be cut in half with an axe. There are times when this feels like a Japanese samurai film, and then the main character punches her sister in the face and the cinema breaks into laughter.
Because this is also quite a funny film. There are moments of great dialogue, and some great slapstick physical gags. Although they are muddled in among some fairly serviceable lines, particularly from the baddies who are constantly grousing with villain lines that could be from any film.
Zazie Beetz is a breath of fresh air, who brings the action, humour and pathos in everything she does. Patricia Arquette throws it to the walls with a deeply culty vibes film. And it’s fun to see Tom Felton and Heather Graham on the big screen again.
Ultimately, this is the sort of film that doesn’t overstay its welcome. At a tight 94 minutes, the film is already starting to drag just a touch. Sokolov has a good handle on when to wrap things up, and does so in a cathartic way that keeps things bloody up until the last minute.
This is the sort of film that is an absolute pleasure to watch, but not one to really challenge you. A hell of a lot of fun, if only a bit of fun.
