This weekend, the horror-comedy genre has two major contenders with They Will Kill You and Ready or Not 2: Here I Come. As much as I wanted to see the sequel to the cult-hit Ready or Not, I was equally as interested in this new horror-comedy film. This decision did not disappoint.
Directed and co-written by Kirill Sokolov, They Will Kill You unleashes a blood-soaked, high-octane horror-action-comedy in which a young woman must survive the night at the Virgil. The place is a demonic cult’s mysterious, twisted death-trap lair. Before becoming their next offering in a uniquely brazen way, the young woman engages in a big-screen battle of epic kills and wickedly dark humour—all while trying to accomplish an endearing mission.
Where do I even start with this one? If you want a mix of practical and VFX/CGI in your horror films, this has it all. And when I mean practical effects, this film took it to a thousand with the throwbacks. There were instances with old gags of decapitations showing a fake head of the actor falling to the ground like in Evil Dead II; another gag was a limb being chopped off, but using the reverse shot forward seen in movies such as Raiders of the Lost Ark; and the classic running headless trick used well in films like Sleepy Hollow.
There were even some puppetry gags. In terms of CGI/VFX, there was one big set piece that the animators had to nail. Blending all of these techniques throughout They Will Kill You could only be successfully achieved through well-coordinated fight choreography as well. To which this movie nailed it, going so far as to use what looked like wirework for certain fight sequences.
Speaking of homages, the production design for the Virgil’s interior was as unsettling as the Overlook Hotel from The Shining. In some ways, the uniform costumes of the maids and the uniform colour palettes of the hallways reminded me of why Severance also contained a sense of dread within Lumon Industries’ walls. Shoutout to the costume designers too, for designing the clothes in this that represented people in the Virgil’s status within the support staff—giving The Handmaid’s Tale vibes.
The production design team deserves praise for how each scene slid into a different space, transitioning to the next set piece. From dimly lit, tight crawl spaces to pitch-black dinner hall spaces, Sokolov understood how to use each one to evoke the proper emotions of the scene. Cinematographer Isaac Bauman also did a great job capturing the claustrophobic close-ups and the super-wide shots that sold the big action sequences.
“They Will Kill You struck a harmonious balance of absurdity and solid writing for its world and characters.”
Zazie Beetz’s Asia Reaves was a spectacle to watch throughout this one-person army film. The way she sliced, diced, kicked, and punched her way through these close-quarter skirmishes with the cult was insane. With the high-octane, bloody action, I would not be surprised if this movie were a bonkers, supernatural John Wick spin-off. Beetz’s performance was a bridge between Uma Thurman’s The Bride in Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill and Taraji P. Henson’s Mary in Babak Najafi’s Proud Mary.
The villain team were the other half to sell this movie, led by the amazing Severance star Patricia Arquette. The way Arquette can articulate her words, in a motherly yet sinister manner, works as much as it did in Severance as it did in They Will Kill You. Performances from Tom Felton and Heather Graham were a treat, to say the least. It looked like they were just told to have some maniacal fun and run with it in every scene. If they did their own stunts, they definitely deserve some props for matching Beetz’s high energy.
My only critique of They Will Kill You was its pacing issues at times. Movies that tend to be of a higher echelon tend to have long, lingering shots. There were a few in this movie that did not work for the quick-paced action and tone the whole movie was going for. Other than this, the campiness of this almost nonstop action-horror film played well with the dark humour.
They Will Kill You struck a harmonious balance of absurdity and solid writing for its world and characters. With only 1 hour and 34 minutes to craft this quick one-shot slash-and-dash ride, it was entertaining throughout, with each chase and fight—never overexplaining the whole Satanic backstory. While this film does not need a sequel, it would be cool to see more of this world and if there are other places like it other than the Virgil.
