They. Will. Kill. You.
And unlike most horror taglines, this one isn’t bluffing.
With They Will Kill You, director Kirill Sokolov storms into English-language filmmaking like he’s got something to prove – and judging by the sheer volume of bloodshed on display, he absolutely does. Best known for his gleefully unhinged Why Don’t You Just Die!, Sokolov doubles down here, delivering a savage, stylish, and relentlessly entertaining mash-up of action and horror that rarely lets you catch your breath.
At the centre of the chaos is Zazie Beetz as Asia Reaves, a woman shaped by trauma and running on pure survival instinct. We first meet her as a teenager fleeing an abusive home with her younger sister, Maria. A decade later, that past collides with the present when Asia arrives in New York for what seems like a fresh start – taking a housekeeping job at a suspiciously eerie Manhattan high-rise. Naturally, things go very, very wrong.
From the moment Asia steps inside, the building feels off. Residents lurk, smiles don’t quite land, and Patricia Arquette’s building manager delivers every line like she’s hiding something deliciously sinister beneath it. Sokolov wastes no time escalating the tension, and when masked intruders in pig costumes break into Asia’s room, the film detonates into full-blown carnage.
What follows is less a fight for survival and more a full-scale massacre – with Asia revealing herself to be anything but helpless. Armed to the teeth and moving like a one-woman army, she hacks, blasts, and tears her way through wave after wave of attackers in a series of set-pieces that feel like Kill Bill: Volume 1 by way of The Raid. It’s brutal, inventive, and often so excessive it tips into dark comedy.
And just when you think you’ve got a handle on things, the film gleefully pulls the rug out. These aren’t just rich weirdos in masks – they’re part of a satanic cult with immortality on their side, meaning Asia’s job isn’t just to kill them… it’s to keep killing them. The result is a gleefully macabre loop of violence that leans into its own absurdity in the best possible way.
Narratively, it’s not reinventing the wheel – there are clear echoes of Ready or Not and You’re Next – but Sokolov understands exactly what kind of movie he’s making. This isn’t about subtlety or deep thematic excavation. It’s about momentum, mayhem, and the visceral thrill of watching terrible people get absolutely obliterated. Any attempts at social commentary around wealth and privilege take a backseat to the far more compelling spectacle of Beetz carving her way through a building full of devil-worshipping elites.
And honestly? That’s the right call.
Beetz is phenomenal here – balancing grounded emotion with full-throttle action hero energy. You believe her fear, her fury, and her determination in equal measure, making her the perfect anchor for the film’s increasingly bonkers escalation. Meanwhile, Heather Graham and Tom Felton clearly understand the assignment, chewing scenery with just the right amount of camp; Graham, in particular, involves herself in some of the film’s more bonkers sequences of bloodshed.
Visually, Sokolov brings a kinetic, almost chaotic style to the action, favouring wide-angle shots and dynamic camera movement that keeps everything feeling immediate and unpredictable. It’s the kind of filmmaking that feels alive – messy in a way that’s entirely intentional. If Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez, and Sam Raimi ever collaborated on a midnight movie fever dream, it might look something like this.
Clocking in at a lean 94 minutes, They Will Kill You knows exactly how long it needs to stick around. It never overstays its welcome, instead opting to sprint full-speed from one blood-soaked set-piece to the next, building to a finale so wildly over-the-top you can’t help but grin.
This is unapologetically a film for gorehounds – but even if you’re just in the mood for something fast, ferocious, and a little bit unhinged, there’s a lot to enjoy here. It’s loud, ridiculous, and completely committed to the bit.
Sometimes, that’s exactly what you want.
THREE AND A HALF STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
They Will Kill You is now screening in Australian theatres.
