They Will Kill You Review

They Will Kill You is an action-horror-comedy hybrid that is a part of a trio of films about women released in quick succession.

Asia Reaves (Zazie Beetz) is a woman who has served a 10-year prison sentence and sets out to find her sister. Asia takes up a job at the executive Virgil club in New York, but soon discovers it’s run by Satanists and they plan to sacrifice her. Asia has to use all her prison fighting skills to survive, find her sister, and escape the building.

Comparisons with Ready or Not will immediately come to mind, as They Will Kill You shares many similarities. The premises were similar because they featured women being hunted by Satanists so they can be sacrificed. These comparisons were confounded by the fact that They Will Kill You was released a week after Ready or Not 2: Here I Come. They Will Kill You unintentionally had some similarities to the Ready or Not sequel, since both films featured estranged sisters. They Will Kill You also attempted some social commentary about the rich exploiting the marginalised, but it was skin deep.

They Will Kill You also brought to mind Die Hard and The Warriors, since it was an action film set in a confined location and featured the main characters being hunted by various gangs. Films like The Raid and Dredd already combined those classics and became classics in their own right.  They Will Kill You’s twist was that it went for a Quentin Tarantino approach.

They Will Kill You was directed by Kirill Sokolov, who was making his English-language debut. A quote from his IMDB biography said, “Sokolov’s debut film, “’Why don’t you just die!,’ draws upon the cinematic styles of his favorite directors, Sergio Leone, Martin McDonagh, Park Chan-wook, Martin Scorsese, and, of course, Quentin Tarantino.” It was clear that Sokolov’s formative years in the 2000s involved watching film bro movies. They Will Kill You felt like it was made in the 2000s because of the violence, action, and genre mash-up.

To be more precise, They Will Kill You felt like a cross between Kill Bill and From Dusk till Dawn. The action and violence were taken from Kill Bill, especially the fight with the Crazy 88, because of all the blood spray when heads and limbs were chopped off. The From Dusk till Dawn comparisons came from the supernatural twist, although in They Will Kill You, the twist arrived early. Sokolov used Tarantino as a reference because of the visual style, violence, and the use of flashbacks.

Zazie Beetz was a great lead. Beetz had already shown her action credentials in Deadpool 2, where she was a scene stealer. In They Will Kill You, Beetz was an utter badass as she fought with a machete and a shotgun. It was a great showcase for Beetz, and she did get to work with an impressive cast. Patricia Arquette was the standout as the main villain, a dominating figure who served as the bridge between the haves and have-nots. Paterson Joseph was a surprise as a gruff American handyman.

I saw They Will Kill You at a Scream Unseen screening, and it turned out to be a crowd-pleaser. The audience I was with loved it because of the violence and dark humour. It was a film that appealed to my inner adolescence. The action was well executed, with the highlights being the first action scene and the flaming axe fight. Heather Graham’s character was the butt of the joke for a lot of the film, which was done to great effect. The film did test me because of my eye phobia. Even though They Will Kill You was extremely bloody, it only earned a 15 rating. It could have earned an 18 rating.

They Will Kill You was made on a modest $7 million budget, which was fine for the most part because the film took place in a building. The same corridor set could be redressed. However, there were limitations because it was stated that every floor in the Virgil catered to a Deadly Sin, but only one was shown.

They Will Kill You was a shameless B-movie that was a blast to watch. It will probably earn cult status quickly.