They Will Kill You is a hyper-violent example of all style, no substance. This isn’t always a fatal flaw for a film, as you can still deliver entertainment value on a paper-thin plot, however, it’s not an ideal situation to put yourself in as it does stack the odds against you and leave you open to smaller issues becoming much more glaring when there’s nothing else to focus on.
The story centers around Asia Reaves (Zazie Beetz), a young woman who tried to escape her abusive father with her younger sister, Maria. While attempting to escape, they’re tracked down by their father and his friend at a convenient store and told to return home. Asia pulls out a gun, her father charges her and she pulls the trigger. The police arrive seconds later (upon trying to escape their father in the convenient store the alarm sounds, as Maria had stolen some chocolates, so the clerk – apparently completely okay with the scary man chasing after these two girls – says he’s calling the police as they’re being hunted) and Asia sees that her father (who wasn’t killed by the bullet) is holding onto Maria’s ankle and, you know, obviously there’s absolutely no way to help her escape that situation, so Asia simply panics and runs.
This is one of those scenarios where I’d be more apt to let it slide had things come together stronger as the film progressed, but when they don’t, it’s just another issue on the pile of issues to come. Here it probably should’ve been shot better to show that there was no other option but to run, instead of making it seem like this guy who had just been shot simply grabbed Maria’s ankle and Asia was like, “Welp, so long sis!” I get you just shot someone, and I get that the police in this world have teleportation powers and arrived within seconds, but at least have it so that after being shot the father falls on Maria or something, where it’s instantaneously clear to the viewer that Asia wouldn’t be able to help her in the limited time she has. One could argue that it’s all a panic, she knew she’d shot someone and didn’t want to risk putting her sister in danger by taking her on the run and decided to just take her chances on her own, but I’d argue back that’s reaching quite a bit.
This is also focusing far too much on a single moment and even if we pretend he had fallen on Maria and Asia had no choice but to run, leaving Maria alone with her abusive father, there are bigger reasons the movie just fails to deliver. We find those out moments later, as the film wastes no time jumping into the action, with Asia showing up at a mysterious looking high-rise building in New York called “The Vigil,” with the words “10 Years Later…” appearing at the bottom of the screen.
She introduces herself to the building manager, Lily (Patricia Arquette), posing as a newly hired maid that Lily had been expecting. She tells Asia about how The Vigil has been around for a century and is occupied by the rich, though we’re really only introduced to a few “rich” people in the lobby, most notably Sharon, played by Heather Graham. Lily walks Asia down a hallway that’s filled with dozens of maids and help (I’d probably question why my services were needed at this point with how many are just lounging about, but hey!) and is shown to her room. When Lily opens the door her husband, Ray (Paterson Joseph) stumbles out. Lily says he’s not supposed to be in there and he shrugs her off and leaves.
Turns out that Ray was leaving a warning for Asia, who takes a hot shower that allows the mirror to fog up and reveal the words THEY WILL KILL YOU in shocking fashion. Of course, the words have vanished by the time Asia gets out of the shower, so so much for that. She puts a chair in front of the door, fearing something is off in the room, and then goes to sleep. Not long after a burly man in a mask enters the room through a secret door behind the fridge. He sees her exposed foot and licks it, as I suppose director Kirill Sokolov was hoping to get a positive review blurb from Quentin Tarantino for the movie poster. He then leans over her face as she sleeps, with a bit of drool falling from his mouth onto her cheek.
Is it gross? Yes. Is it shocking to see this kind of stuff in a horror movie? Not at all. This is the kind of stuff that you can build suspense with if handled properly, but here it’s all just kind of odd. Asia does squirm slightly after her foot is licked, but after the drool falls on her cheek she wakes up. Of course, the big guy has vanished. Again, this doesn’t always bother me in horror movies, as you can toy with your victims, but here it’s all illogical and just for show, as Asia sits up and sees nobody, then we go under the bed and see her head slowly appear as she checks below – again, nothing – and then she sits back up and low and behold, right behind her is the big guy in the mask!
Wait, how did she not see his feet when she just looked under the bed? Quiet you, with your logic! Again, I’m the first one to suspend disbelief for a movie, as it’s fun to just escape the real world, especially when you’re going to see a horror/action flick; however, there are times when you just can’t allow yourself to do it, and this movie encapsulates just about all of them. Asia soon finds herself surrounded by masked assailants, but little do they know she’s prepared for them, slicing and dicing them to pieces with a giant blade in over-the-top bloody fashion.
So the issue here is that we’re really early on in the film still, there’s no emotional crux for the audience to anchor themselves to, and we’re just moments away from a reveal that’s going to see the gas pedal pressed down entirely into action mode for the remainder of the movie with very little letting up for any real character growth or story development.
Again, this isn’t always a bad thing, as action movies have done things like this before – even within a single building location (The Raid: Redemption, Dredd) – and succeeded at both entertaining audiences and delivering enough of a story to make them interested in the characters on the screen. They Will Kill You could’ve done this, as an older sister trying to right a wrong of her past by rescuing her sister from another precarious situation kind of writes itself in terms of getting the audience on board, but they didn’t and the misfires just continue.
I won’t dive too deeply into it, but the reveal that follows shapes the rest of the film, and the way such a drastic reveal that comes so early is handled causes the film to suffer as a whole. There’s nothing wrong with a wacky amount of gore used in comical ways (and the use of practical effects is impressive and commendable), but in leaning into such a stylistic choice as we’re just leaving the first act, along with some pretty consistently jarring camera movements throughout does cause fatigue with the concepts to set in much sooner. The movie is barely over 90-minutes in length, which is a brisk cinematic jaunt these days, and yet before the movie even hit its halfway point the number of repetitive actions, camera moves and battle scenes were exhausting.
The “kill the rich” and/or the “hunted becomes the hunter” are stories that have been told on screen plenty of times before and it’s a well that shows no signs of ever running dry in the future. And while similar conceptual films are released in close proximity all the time, it doesn’t help when the other story being told (Ready or Not/Ready or Not 2) is just handled better at every turn.
They Will Kill You never takes itself too seriously, blending dark comedy with the violence, which can be a positive in the horror world (think You’re Next for a strong example of mixing fun with an actual focus on characters and scares,) but doing so in the way that They Will Kill You does, with a heavy reliance on style and special effects above all else, leaves it without a proper foundation to get the audience invested, as well as feeling aimless and monotonous overall.
4K Blu-ray Video and Audio Review:
The movie looks great, which probably isn’t surprising given that so much focus went into that. The fight scenes are the strong point of the film, with the 2160p/HDR10/Dolby Vision delivering them to your living room (or viewing space) in cinematic fashion. The blacks are deep and dark, which is good considering there’s a solid amount of scenes taking place in darker locations within the building. The colours are vibrant and the blood spatter and visual effects do deliver in terms of money spent on them. There are scenes with headless bodies chasing Asia through ventilation shafts, and an eyeball giving chase, and never do they scream “this is CGI” or overly fake. I mean, they’re clearly fake, but they clearly use a lot of practical effects that fit into the scenes well and it shows.
On the audio side we’ve got Dolby Atmos and that’s strong here too. The film is unrelenting in the action-packed pace it goes at and the film’s score and sound effects accompany it throughout. On that front they sound fantastic and they do fill the room up at any given time. The dialogue is also clean and clear, front and center, which is always important in any film. As a whole, the film gets passing grades in both of these areas, which will be good news to those who enjoyed it and want to add it to their collection.
Special Features:
Director’s Log: The Making of They Will Kill You – This is a fairly quick featurette that sees the director and cast talk about production, we see them on set, as well as various scenes using prosthetics with the VFX teams on location. It’s a fun watch regardless of your thoughts on the film, as it’s clear there was love put into making it despite my opinion on the outcome.
Developing the Virgil Featurette – This aptly titled featurette focuses on the main location of the film, the Virgil. It’s described as a none-floor art deco building inspired by Dante’s Inferno. We get to see a lot of the intricate design within the building here, and how each floor was meant to represent a different level of psychological descent – which is just something that didn’t transfer as clearly to the final product as they likely anticipated. I wouldn’t expect it to be obvious while watching, but there should probably be some idea while watching before discovering this was the intent on bonus features.
Asia Reaves’ Attacks Featurette – Here we’ve got some of the film’s major fight scenes and stunts broken down for your viewing pleasure. Again, these were the main highlights in the movie, so it’s nice to see some behind-the-scenes looks into them.
Crafting Carnage – This featurette dives into the bloody meat and potatoes (ew) of the film, showcasing various prosthetics and puppets used throughout to allow for more practical effects and hands-on techniques. While this movie may not have panned out in my opinion, I do think Sokolov has some interesting ideas that could translate into something fresh and unique in the future.
Disclaimer: A review copy of this Blu-ray was sent to me to cover in honest and truthful fashion.
Warner Bros. Pictures Presents They Will Kill You. Directed By: Kirill Sokolov. Written by: Kirill Sokolov, Alex Litvak. Starring: Zazie Beetz, Patricia Arquette, Tom Felton, Heather Graham, Myha’la, Paterson Joseph. Running time: 94 Minutes. Rating: R. Released on 4K Blu-ray: June 30, 2026.
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