Zazie Beetz plays the newest housekeeper at an exclusive Manhattan building called the Virgil, but on her first night, she gets attacked. Fortunately, she is prepared to fight. Unfortunately, almost everyone in the building is very motivated to kill her because every month, they must sacrifice one person to maintain their deal with Satan. What do they get in return and what does she want? “They Will Kill You” (2026) is slim on story and full-on nonstop action, but once more details are revealed, despite being undeniably impressive, it gets monotonous. Still gorehounds would be grossed out so its worth the slog, and action movie fans will be impressed with the choreography.
Some reviewers like to reveal more than the trailers, but not here, not for “They Will Kill You.” Beetz’s character introduces herself as Isabelle Davidson to Lilith Woodhouse (Patricia Arquette), the Virgil’s superintendent. Isabelle is laying it on thick with a dowdy dress and an almost too wide grin. Once the first guy attacks her, it becomes obvious that she knows how to handle him, and it is not just luck. She expected to be attacked. Beetz has a hard job because she is basically running a marathon, and in the initial scenes, she also fights in panties and a t-shirt, but the woman who played Domino in “Deadpool 2” (2018), makes it seem easy. She is onscreen for the entire movie, and there are never moments when you will find someone else more interesting. She dominates.
The Satanists are less individuated, but some of the actors playing them will be recognizable even if you have not seen them in awhile. Arquette is the standout in this ensemble and, to my untrained ears, sounded Irish. When people talk about Ethan Hawke (“Boyhood”), Brad Pitt (“True Romance”), Johnny Depp (“Ed Wood”) or many others, it is easy to forget that Arquette was as big or bigger than them then ask why she is not considered as one of the greats. While Hawke has a better body of work comparatively, your work is only as good as the choices available to you. There is no way to know how Arquette’s career trajectory developed, but it may have something to do with women never getting called geniuses. Lily gets the biggest backstory, and if “They Will Kill You” gets enough box office support and/or becomes a cult favorite, Lily could be the second coming of Remmick for the Satanists set. It was the most surprising aspect of the story, and the most insightful aspect to explain to the audience why anyone would join a group of Satanists and become a murderer if she is essentially a glorified servant for the bargain. In movies like the “Ready or Not” franchise, the appeal to the powerful and wealthy is obvious, but not to everyone else who get no financial reward and are essentially working.
The rest of the characters trying to kill the sacrifice in “They Will Kill You” barely have names though in the denouement, it becomes germane. Sharon (Heather Graham) behaves kind but later proves to be a lead unhinged player among the Satanists. Graham was a hot commodity for awhile in popular culture but also hits like “Boogie Nights” (1997), which Oscar winner Paul Thomas Anderson directed. There is a guy named Bob who never says a line but is beefy. Tom Felton is a character actor with a solid resume who has the misfortune of looking like other actors, who also look like other actors. Currently he looks like Paul Mescal, who also looks like Hugh Dancy, who also looks like Linus Roache. Now none of these men look like the other. No one would confuse Roache with Felton or Mescal and apply the equation to the others, and it kind of explains why generally some actors may become memorable and others are not. Similarly, here, Felton as Kevin, it is hard to remember anything about him. There are many more.
The servants who help the sacrifice are not that many in “They Will Kill You.” Ray (Paterson Joseph) orients Isabelle and helps her navigate the building. Maria (Myha’la), a maid at the Virgil, is reluctant, but ultimately becomes willing to endanger herself to help Isabelle escape though Isabelle mostly takes the lead. To be clear, the commercial gives the impression that Isabelle may be part of a bigger group being hunted down, and it is not that kind of movie. Collective action is never considered. It is an army of one with personal motivations. There is no general moral outrage or desire for reform. The opening quote, “When the poor give to the rich, the devil laughs,” does not fit because there is disdain for the wealthy and advocating against the have nots supporting them, but no opposing option. What should the poor be doing?
Watching movies like the “Ready or Not” franchise or “They Will Kill You” feels like doing a Goldilocks impression. The prior’s story may seem slight, but it is practically a tome compared to the latter, which is mostly an excuse for Beetz to execute amazing fight choreography and not much else. Then the prior does not go as hard with the violence as one may want for a group of Satanists trying to kill people, which is clearly not this movie’s problem. There must be a happy medium, which is where the “John Wick” franchise comes in. The most nobody character is distinctive and has a name, a backstory and a mission that they are or are not aligned with, but here the world building does not exist.
How do the Virgil’s residents and servants act on a non-sacrifice day? How about Isabelle? Where is Isabelle escaping to? Director and cowriter Kirill Sokolov and cowriter Alex Litvak could have used the prison scenes in a meaningful way to explain why Isabelle was fighting in there on behalf of someone, how she learned to fight, but it is a throwaway explanation. People fight for something, and the way that they fight is a biography when done well. Think of Arya and Brienne of Tarth in “Game of Thrones” and their sparring session. There may not be dialogue, but it is an autobiographical entry for both of them, but Isabelle and everyone else seem to exist to fight without much else. Maria’s backstory is offered, and she comes from an abusive home, but you do not need Woody Harrelson to play every abusive dad to give texture to an essential pivotal side character. These people are empty vessels like dolls to use to fight, and it is hard to imagine any of them not fighting. Maybe Isabelle becomes Xena and just uses her skills for good. Would not a cross over with “The Housemaid” (2025) be interesting?
Sokolov clearly prioritizes the grindhouse style, but it can get monotonous. He visually evokes directors such as Quentin Tarantino, Sam Raimi, Tim Burton and Chan-wook Park and references the sinister, neighborly dynamic of “Rosemary’s Baby” (1968), but those images also reference other images and move stories forward. There is no real story here, but there is an outline. Sokolov sees the world as an unremitting dark place where it always rains. There is a fight scene that tells the whole story of this feeling, and it is in a dining room. When Isabelle enters it, she cannot see an attack coming because it is so dark. When she gets to the hall, she lights an ax on fire, fights them and sets them on fire before the sprinklers come on, and she must move on and fight again at another level like a video game. Sokolov is clearly telling a story about life as a Sisyphean miserable existence of infinite struggle, and when a person like Isabelle has a chance, the infrastructure resets the game, but the house always wins. The rain outside and the sprinklers inside function similarly. He needs to go deeper though. He needs to develop the entire story.
It is a little disturbing how filmmakers do not have a sense of a beginning, middle or end (resolution). It feels like a giant middle. If you manage your expectations, “They Will Kill You” can be satisfying and awe-inspiring, but it is a little disappointing that such amazing performances and set up do not have enough to instill a desire to revisit the Virgil or check in on Beetz’s character. Where do we go from here?
