‘They Will Kill You’ Review: Zazie Beetz Slays In A Bizarrely Fun, If Forgettable, Action-Horror Comedy

An ‘eat the rich’ action-horror comedy that borrows its setting from the nine circles of Hell described in Dante’s Divine Comedy? Sounds inspired, right? It’s campy, gory, hilarious and wildly unpredictable in some places. But sometime during this descent into a metaphorical underworld, Kirill Sokolov’s "They Will Kill You" forgets to pack the heat that would truly sear this hell ride into our psyche. The only burn marks you see then are from Zazie Beetz kicking butt in every action sequence.

"They Will Kill You" follows an ex-convict (Beetz) who seeks employment as a maid in a posh, New York City high-rise, pointedly named ‘The Virgil’. If that isn’t a dead giveaway (pun intended), the gold-panelled doors of the building resemble Ghiberti’s Gates of Paradise from Florence, Italy (Dante’s birthplace), but bearing Satanic-like carvings. She’s welcomed by the building super, Lily Woodhouse (Patricia Arquette, in an unconvincing Irish accent), and introduced to a few of the tenants and maids before being shown to her quarters.

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Our heroine quickly picks up on the sinister vibes of the place, and the film wastes no time in dropping its first action sequence right away. It is this moment that makes it worth going into this movie blind. What follows is out-and-out slasher camp with dismembered body parts, blood spurting out like a fountain from headless bodies, and Zazie Beetz putting on a killer display of her physical acting chops, all set to a pumped-up score. It might just make you laugh out loud at multiple points and wonder loudly, ‘What the hell is going on?’ and ‘Who is she?’

The answers tie back to the film’s opening sequence, which revealed our death-defying heroine’s origin story from a decade ago. She escaped from her abusive father, went to prison, and felt guilty for abandoning her younger sister. Her real name is Asia Reeves. And as Lily called it, she is an avenger. Unfortunately, there’s a horde of ‘tenants’ standing between Asia and what she wants, and they’re all out for her blood. The rest of the film follows Asia’s journey through this hell, with another maid, Maria (Myha’La), as a reluctant Beatrice (to Asia's Dante) and an insider risking their life to help them escape.

Of course, it’s never that easy. And "They Will Kill You" does have a few tricks up its sleeve, shaking things up when you least expect them. The question, though, is this: Are these tricks enough? The action style nods to Tarantino’s "Kill Bill" and Raimi’s "Evil Dead". Zazie Beetz is fully dialled in and looks good doing it. She hacks and slashes, scurries through air vents drenched in blood and bits of brain and never lets you (or herself) catch a beat. The way the action is shot, particularly one sequence with a fiery axe, elicits strong hoots for just how visually dynamic it looks while also making you cackle over its general tempo.

Moreover, with "Ready Or Not 2" just around the corner, it’s hard not to compare. "They Will Kill You" also employs bloody, dark humour to satirise the society we live in. The film begins with a quote from another Italian artist from the Middle Ages, Benvenuto Cellini: ‘When the poor give to the rich, the devil laughs.’ The film ends with this line taken rather literally. The rich feed on the poor, as an apex predator would in the food chain. Only, their power turns it into a sadistic game. And the big bad is a sucker for this reality show.

Sokolov, along with writer Alex Litvak, lays on the subtext quite thick. In one scene, Asia stumbles upon the building’s "sex floor," which corresponds to lust, which is the second circle of hell in Dante’s "Inferno". The explanation for it? When you’ve achieved all the riches and power in the world, boredom sets in, because what else is left except overindulging in one’s desires, no matter how based? If it reminds you of recent news headlines, you’re reading just the right amount into it. However, that’s the extent of the vices explored.

There’s no denying the promise of "They Will Kill You's" premise and premises. However, it never fully submits to its metaphors nor explores the different floors of darkness. Asia (and therefore, we) barely gets a peek at one. Instead, the film uses humor and campy action sequences to bring quick resolutions to its conflicts. And this lightens the stakes considerably. The film keeps its exploration of the inferno that is a reflection of our fallen society, with the predatory rich and powerful on a superficial level. It would’ve been interesting to lend some depth to its mask-totting, cloaked characters. Its climax, though predictable, is amusing for its commitment to the bizarre, but it still leaves you wanting a better answer. Zazie Beetz demolishing a pig’s head (don’t ask) while she sends Arquette’s Lily flying is awesome, but not it.

Barring Zazie Beetz and Myha’La, the performances aren’t something to write home about. Patricia Arquette’s Lily isn’t chilling enough. It’s great to see Heather Graham and Tom Felton doing this for a moment there. But once that initial delight wears off, their characters are forgettable, just like the other tenants and maids, whose names are spoken out loud, but never retained in memory, like NPCs (non-playable characters).

It’s unclear if this indeed was the extent of "They Will Kill You"'s ambitions or if it tried to do more and fumbled. The film is a fun watch, even if forgettable, in the grand scheme of horror comedies that leave you thinking. It does a banging job of highlighting Zazie Beetz as an action star deserving of more projects in the genre. But if you want a piece of media where a woman tries to save another from descending deep into a metaphorical hell, starring Myha’La, watch "Industry" season 4 instead.