A woman answers a cryptic ad for a housekeeping job at a luxurious yet foreboding New York City high-rise. Upon arrival, she discovers residents have vanished without a trace for decades, fueling whispers of a satanic cult lurking in the shadows.
Director: Kirill Sokolov
Cast: Zazie Beetz, Myha'la, Paterson Joseph, Tom Felton, Heather Graham, Patricia Arquette
Release Date: March 27, 2026
Genre: Horror, Comedy
Rated R for strong bloody violence, gore, language and brief sexual content/nudity.
Runtime: 1h 35m
Review:
They Will Kill You has all the makings of a fun over the top exploitation grindhouse film, boasting a handful of visually impressive action sequences that are incredibly fun, but the undercooked story keeps it from being something really special. Writer/Director Kirill Sokolov’s film has a fun energy that seeps through the screen especially once the first action sequence hits the screen. The arterial blood splattered across the screen is going to give more than a few people flashbacks of Tarantino’s Kill Bill: Volume 1. Sokolov throwing that sort of action into a devil cult seems like a slam dunk as it’s even more over the top and extreme than the recent Ready or Not films. The action set pieces are wonderfully choregraphed with each moment delivering a very distinctive visual from the initial bedroom fight to a fun vent chase and topped with a fire axe sequence that’s the highlight of the film. The kinetic action is sure to keep genre fans thoroughly entertained for large chunks of the film’s runtime but there’s a noticeable lull in between those moments since the story leaves more than a bit to be desired. Zazie Beetz makes for an intriguing, blood splattered heroine as she brings an impressive intensity to the role that shows off her total commitment to the role. She is more than willing and able to deliver so much here but the script offers her and the supporting characters the thinnest of characterizations which waste the talent assembled. Patricia Arquette, sporting a strange Irish accent, does what she can with as the cult leader and de facto villain but there’s painfully little on the page to work with outside of the most basic defining characterization. Heather Graham and Tom Felton are given even less than that to work with both as they serve as little more than familiar faces to be chopped through over and over again. It doesn’t help that the dialogue is painfully clunky and strangely lacking in any tongue in cheek wink and a nod about how silly the whole thing is. There’s a message mixed in there about the rich taking advantage of the poor, but it’s so ham fisted that it doesn’t land the way it should much like the central relationship between the sisters which leaves They Will Kill You less memorable than it should be.
C+
