Sometimes, the past doesn’t just haunt you; it waits for you to walk right back through its front door. In ‘They Will Kill You‘, Zazie Beetz stars as Asia Reaves, a woman whose life was shattered ten years ago during a desperate, failed attempt to rescue her little sister from their abusive father. Now, Asia has resurfaced, taking a housekeeping job at a glitzy, high-end New York apartment complex called The Virgil. But she isn’t there for the paycheck. She’s there on a mission, undercover and fueled by a decade of trauma. What she doesn’t realise is that the residents of this high-rise aren’t just wealthy. They’re immortal Satanists, and they’ve been waiting for a fresh soul to sacrifice before the sun comes up.
Coming from the twisted minds of director Kirill Sokolov and co-writer Alex Litvak, this film is a high-octane, unapologetically bloody “kill-or-be-killed” extravaganza. If you imagine a cinematic blender filled with The Raid, Ready or Not, and Kill Bill, you’re starting to get the vibe. It’s a 94-minute ride that leans heavily into the “final girl” energy we love, but with a protagonist who has spent her time behind bars learning exactly how to break anyone who stands in her way.
A Rocky Start with a High-Stakes Payoff
I’ll be honest: the opening act is a little lumpy. Sokolov clearly loves the Grindhouse aesthetic, and while the retro-visual style is gorgeous to look at, the prologue feels a bit smug. It tries a little too hard to be “edgy” in its storytelling, and there are moments early on where the narrative feels like it’s tripping over its own feet.
However, once the first cultist tries to subdue Asia in her quarters, the movie blissfully goes off the rails. The fight choreography is absolutely insane. Watching Asia’s confusion as she has to “kill” the same people over and over again, only for them to regenerate and come back for more, is both hilarious and thrilling. Patricia Arquette is perfectly cast as the building’s superintendent, Lilith, playing her with a crooked smile and a cocksure confidence that makes her the perfect foil for Beetz’s gritty, resolute Asia.
Climbing the Ladder of Chaos
The film follows a very specific “fight-flee-repeat” structure as Asia literally fights her way floor-by-floor toward the penthouse. Sokolov uses comic book-inspired flashbacks to fill in the blanks of Asia’s history and the dark secrets of The Virgil. At first, this is a great way to build the lore, but by the time she reaches the middle floors, the repetitive nature of these interludes starts to wear a little thin.
There’s also a tendency for the filmmakers to over-explain the twists. We’re smart enough to put the pieces together, but the script sometimes insists on going back to the same well one too many times. It’s a minor frustration in a film that otherwise feels so confident in its madness.
The Final Round
The good news? The final third of this movie completely knocked me out. It features a ballroom battle involving a flaming axe that is, quite frankly, a masterpiece of action-horror. Zazie Beetz is a total powerhouse here, proving once again that she can carry a film with nothing but a weapon and sheer force of will.
The ensemble of Satanists is surprisingly fun, too. I particularly loved seeing Heather Graham and Tom Felton as the lead antagonists; watching them get increasingly agitated every time Asia dismembers them is a highlight. There’s even a delightfully creepy nod to early Sam Raimi involving a sentient eyeball that will definitely satisfy the hardcore horror fans.
‘They Will Kill You‘ isn’t without its flaws, but it slays the majority of them with a windmill kick and a swift meat cleaver to the neck. It carries that “rich people are the enemy” energy that worked so well in Ready or Not, but dials the supernatural elements up to eleven. It’s messy, it’s loud, and it’s gore-soaked, but with Beetz at the centre, it’s a survival story that is impossible to look away from.
If you’re looking for a film that celebrates a woman reclaiming her power by literally hacking through her past, this is it. It’s a brutal, giggly, bloody good time.
