Have you ever wondered what would happen if Tarantino and Sam Raimi decided to make a movie together? Sounds like it could be pretty cool doesn’t it? They Will Kill You is built on a premise so absurd you need to make sure you’re ready for what is coming next.
Asia Reaves (Zazie Beetz) is a troubled young woman who has spent the last 10 years in jail after shooting her abusive father and leaving behind her younger sister Maria (Myha’la) in his care. Upon her release Asia begins picking up the pieces of her life by taking a job at the foreboding old money style New York High rise The Virgil. On a storming night knocking on a door emboldened with religious iconography Asia is greeted and invited inside by the manager of the building Lilith (Patricia Arquette) who after a short spiel about The Virgil, almost giving it a life of its own, shows the tired and soaked Asia to her room.
Just as Asia starts to unwind she is attacked in bed by masked villains and everything gets turned up to 11. Quickly dispatching her would-be attackers we begin to realise Asia might be more than the timid ex-con that we are led to believe, and the world she has just walked into is anything but straight forward.
Director Kirill Sokolov has a very simple direction for “They Will Kill You,” at every moment for any situation, excess must be reached. From the moment one of her attackers Kevin (Tom Felton) throws open a wardrobe door and the unmistakable sound of blade slicing skin is heard, excess has officially begun.
There are key elements of the story I am being purposefully vague about as they add another layer to the overall tone and feel that is best experienced first hand.
Sokolov’s inspirations are heavily on show. Clearly a fan of Tarantino, scenes are stitched together with chaotic precision and accentuated by a thumping sound track. The quick jarring camera movements give you a faux adrenaline kick and help to push parts of the action into absurdity, coupled with camera angles that could be straight out of a blood soaked graphic novel gives They Will Kill You a very familiar feel. Raimi’s influence is felt whenever there is blood, never one to shy away from gallons of the red stuff and a laugh-inducing death, fans will instantly feel comfort with the direction.
They Will Kill You knows exactly what it wants to be and you need to be prepared for it. It feels ridiculously B grade akin to the Grindhouse movies of the 70’s & 80’s and it leans heavily into it. The story is a simple premise and never tries to be anything more. Beetz is the centre of the story and carries its pacing giving her character a weight that doesn’t come from the script. She plays Asia as a strong unstoppable force of nature that has faults and refuses to let past insecurities play any further part in her life. Her brutal determination is enough to push other limitations of the story to the side and just switch off and enjoy the absurdity.
For the good fun that They Will Kill You can be, it relies too heavily on referencing other film makers’ styles to find its own niche. Yet it still can be a bit of fun, again if you know what you’re in for. It sets out to be an over the top, gory splatterfest with thrills, laughs and many many shakes of the head to be had. The story builds to a lackluster finale that projects itself way before the blades are done slicing but it is a fun ride that will be objectively better surrounded by others in a cinema. At just over 90 mins it is the perfect length for a quick run up the floors of The Virgil.