They Will Kill You Stands as a Stylish but Overall Bloody Mess -

By Luis Zonenberg

As our halfway to Halloween horror-thon comes to a close, I decided to venture out for a spicier dish this time around. My search inevitably led to the action-packed dark comedy, They Will Kill You, which coincidentally is very similar to Radiosilence’s Ready or Not: Here I Come. While it’s already humorous—two movies involving a protagonist playing a game of hide and seek with wealthy satanists released around the same time—it does pose an interesting question: which did it better? Well, dear reader, I think it’s time we dive into this dilemma head-on and see for ourselves who wins this round.

The story focuses on ex-convict Asia Reaves (Zazie Beetz) posing as a maid at a high-end hotel in New York City called the Virgil. She’s heard numerous stories about people going missing in the building, including her estranged sister, Maria (Myha’la). She hopes to find out what happened to her, but quickly finds nothing is as it seems when she gets attacked by a slew of psychotic residents in the middle of the night.

She soon finds out that the hotel was built as a temple to worship the devil, with all of the residents having made a deal to make weekly sacrifices in exchange for immortality. When she finds out that the superintendent, Lilith (Patricia Arquette), sets her eyes on Asia as this week’s sacrifice, Asia must battle a horde of satanic cult members if she wants to survive the night. She also gets some help from the mysterious Ray (Paterson Joseph) who not only can help her escape, but also helps her find her sister in the process!

While this film is not an exact copy and paste of Ready or Not: Here I Come, it is fascinating how it repeats a number of the same beats. Both films not only worked in excessive gore and satanic cults but also the same emotional beat of two estranged sisters learning to overcome their differences in the face of adversity. Where it does differ is in execution, with They Will Kill You utilizing a non-linear narrative story structure as opposed to being chronological.

Another key component of They Will Kill You is its campy and overly-exaggerated tone that seems to pay homage to the works of horror filmmakers like Sam Raimi. The problem is that this heightened reality rips away the emotional components and grounded stakes of the narrative. While movies like Send Help are filled to the brim with campy antics, the films still feel grounded in a believable reality and They Will Kill You seems to overlook that core component. This unfortunately robs the film of any emotional stakes and just makes it feel like a cheap excuse to showcase gory imagery.

The cast does their best to elevate the sub-par material, with Zazie Beetz proving to be a very charming action hero. While her performance is not the most nuanced or complex, she has enough spontaneity and charisma to make her character feel more likeable compared to the rest. Myha’la works well off of Beetz, but unfortunately fails to leave much of an impression due to her rushed character arc and little screentime. The real highlight of the show was Paterson Joseph, who delivered plenty of mystery and suspense with his much more layered performance compared to the other supporting cast members.

The cinematography felt very inconsistent, utilizing two very distinct styles of camerawork that didn’t mix well together. Both styles separately fit the visual style of the film, but together they make the film look unbalanced and messy to watch. One minute you can have a steady wide shot that showcases the amazing action set pieces, and the other you might have shaky camera movement with constant zoom-ins on characters or objects; clearly, the filmmakers really needed to better balance its various camera movements to fit the visual style without distracting the audience from the story.

The makeup and overall VFX looked cheesy and fake at times, but did lean into the film’s campy nature in a very entertaining way. From the cheap-looking props to the cartoony animation used to show the various death sequences, the VFX beautifully compliments the tone of the film—though at times it sticks out like a sore thumb. The cinematography gets overtly stylized and comes across more distracting at times, and the same can be said for some of the VFX as well.

The film definitely falls short of its potential, with its already clunky narrative suffering damage from director Kirill Sokolov’s poor execution. Further insult is added when compared to Ready or Not: Here I Come, since despite its flaws, the film told a much more grounded, emotionally involved story in a much more entertaining way. While action junkies and horror fans might get some thrill from They Will Kill You, the film’s overtly campy charms and disjointed editing might have most audiences seek enjoyment elsewhere.

They Will Kill You is now playing in theaters.

Rating: ★ ½ of five