'How to Make a Killing' (But Not a Scene)
How to Make a Killing is exactly what you think it’s going to be.
That’s not meant as shade… It’s just accurate.
Courtesy of A24
Directed by John Patton Ford after Emily the Criminal, the film riffs on Kind Hearts and Coronets and drops it into a very American story about old money and newer resentment. Glen Powell plays Becket Redfellow, the disinherited son of a wealthy dynasty who decides the quickest path back into the will is to start thinning out the family tree. It’s a great, yet predictable, setup.
The casting for Becket was really strong. With Powell coming off an extremely impressive run from Top Gun: Maverick and Twisters to The Running Man and Anyone But You, he can clearly act in anything. He’s got a magnetic charm; you can’t help but root for the guy, which makes him all the more perfect for this. Becket feels icy without losing the likability that makes the whole thing work. You get why people trust him, and you get why they shouldn’t.
Courtesy of A24
But, beyond that, if you’re waiting for the movie to really go for it, it doesn’t. I’m sorry to say it!
Ford has pointed to American Psycho and Taxi Driver as tonal cousins. This isn’t that. Like not even remotely. It’s actually kind of offensive to compare it to either. Hit Man is more like it, and it would be apt given that that’s some great Powell power. I digress. How to Make a Killing just kind of delivers a bowl full of nothing; however, it also doesn’t give you slop. The satire of generational wealth is there, sure. The commentary on American ambition is there (if you really dig), too. It’s just… neat(?) about it.
The Redfellow family—led by a very on-brand Ed Harri —are walking embodiments of rich-people archetypes: finance asshole, tortured-art ego manias, megachurch charisma cult leader, billionaire explorer delusion. Zach Woods and Topher Grace are solid. No one’s phoning it in! But the film never lets anyone get truly feral or even remotely deep.
The mansion looks incredible. Of course it does. The wealth is obscene. Of course it is. You understand what Becket wants within minutes. Of course you would!
And that’s kind of the whole experience. You understand everything, which means nothing really sneaks up on you (except for perhaps the end).
Courtesy of A24
All this to say: I wasn’t impressed. I also wasn’t disappointed. It lands right in the middle—not sharp enough to hit, not flat enough to drag.
Weirdly, the title says it all. How to Make a Killing shows you exactly how it’s done. It just makes sure not to cause a scene while doing it.
Mid? Yes. But, ultimately, it’s just enough to get people to the theaters, but not enough to make a killing at the box office.
