FILM REVIEW
THEY WILL KILL YOU
Rated R
94 Minutes
Released March 27th
OK, this movie is like a glass of fine red wine – blood red wine thrown on you right through the screen, with notes of The Addams Family, The Evil Dead, Wednesday, and Liam Neeson in revenge mode. There is no deep thinking involved in the story, the setting, or the characters. The carefully mounted and symmetrical sets are reminiscent of a Wes Anderson movie – if it were directed by a biker gang or a psychedelic cult.
This is not a remake or a sequel. It’s a totally original film with unique characters. Shot in Cape Town, South Africa, in December 2024 on a low budget with few set changes, the film’s relatively simple special effects work strikingly because they are real enough to make you feel squeamish. It’s the little things – such as one long chase featuring an ambulatory eyeball that’s made deliciously gross and hilarious because the optic nerve is still clinging to it, causing it to rotate clumsily with a thump as it careens down a spider-web filled passageway. Only a devilishly innovative mind could think that up.
The use of weapons is creative, and the extensive fight choreography is impressive. The story provides an ingenious way to meet budget constraints – make all the weird rich people who inhabit the boarding house immortal. That way, the boarders can be killed repeatedly, each demise more gruesome than the last, without the necessity of hiring more actors. They Will Kill You is not your teachable moment movie. No valuable lessons here, but it’s the stuff of every tween boy’s daydream (but sorry boys, it’s rated R).
All that said, this film would be nothing without Zazie Beetz as “Asia.” Here she is, a female “Rambo” on a mission, and she rocks her role of vengeance-driven big sister. Beetz is rarely on her feet in this movie. She spends most of her time flying through the air after landing a savage kick or repelling backwards after slicing through an opponent’s body with a samurai sword.
Her character’s style of fighting is reflexive and adaptive, learned in prison, using whatever items she can find at hand to survive. When not in a fight, she is on all fours, pushing herself through a crawlspace rampant with spiders and zombies. Beetz had already trained extensively in martial arts for her role of “Domino” in Deadpool 2. To do all her own stunts in They Will Kill You, Beetz trained again, 5 days a week for 4 months, with Michael Olajide, in boxing, combat choreography, Wing Chun, and Aikido.
Beetz is becoming a much-in-demand quirky and high-energy actress. She was born in Germany and grew up in Manhattan. Her father, who is German, emigrated to the US after the fall of the Berlin Wall and found work as a janitor. Her mother, a social worker, is African American. Beetz went to Harlem School of the Arts, earned a degree in French, and spent a year “broke and waiting tables” before finally winning a series regular role in Atlanta.
Other stand-outs in the cast include Patricia Arquette as “Lily,” who was thrilled to play an evil role for a change, Myha‘la, who strikes a balance between innocent and fierce as Asia’s little sister, “Maria,” and Heather Graham (you may remember her as “Roller Girl” in Boogie Nights) as the leader of the zombies. Angus Sampson, who plays “Cisco,” the scruffy private eye in TV’s The Lincoln Lawyer, plays the same role in this movie, like a crossover. He’s a fascinating character in the series, and he fits in perfectly in this world. At the end, he picks up the two exhausted sisters and asks what happened. Asia replies simply, “Rich people!”
The director of this tour de force of gore is Kirill Sokolov. Born in Leningrad, he earned his master’s in physics & technology of nanostructures. While a student, Sokolov made short dark comedy films with friends, using ketchup for blood. Soon, filmmaking took over his life. He made two crazy Russian action comedies, Why Don’t You Just Die in 2018, and No Looking Back in 2021. A fan of Scorsese and Tarantino, Sokolov reached Western audiences through the Tallinn Black Nights Film Fest in Estonia in 2018. He has a fine instinct for patching unexpected images and actions together to create high comedy.
Arquette describes They Will Kill You as “bonkers.” Beetz calls it “intense.” If you don’t like blood and gore in a camp, roll-in-the-aisles style, don’t see this film. If you can appreciate the humor and over-the-top carnage, you’ll have a good time. Just when you think you’ve seen the epitome of ghastly grossness, wait for it – the end is the “gruesomest” of gross-out gore. But you’ll be used to it by then. Do remember, it’s just a movie.
Kathryn Whitney Boole has spent most of her life in the entertainment industry, which has been the backdrop for remarkable adventures with extraordinary people. She is a Talent Manager with Studio Talent Group in Santa Monica. kboole@gmail.com
