2026 Movie Preview: All the Movies You Need to Know About Now
This film’s predecessors offered sharp social commentary, scandalous twists, disgusting gags or cringe-worthy gore, and dark humor that was so serious you could drown in your laughter. how to kill, However, it is restrained by comparison.
By all means, writer/director John Patton Ford (emily delinquent) has dulled the edge of the original premise, creating a dark comedy that feels less like a punch up and more like a defeated shrug.
how to kill There is a video game complex.
Glen Powell plays Beckett Redfellow, the firstborn son of a distinguished New York socialite who should have been able to afford him every privilege – no matter how obscene – of the ultra-rich.
However, because Beckett was born out of wedlock, his mother disowned him, and was forced to raise him not in the luxurious family mansion in Huntington, Long Island, but in the blue-collar setting of Bellevue, New Jersey.
In a flashback, a young Beckett is educated by her mother in aristocratic hobbies such as archery, and reveals that she is still in the will, so Redfellow’s fortune may one day be hers. So, naturally, when his childhood crush resurfaces in the form of a femme fatale (Margaret Qualley), who tempts him to join high society no matter the cost, Beckett turns away from his estranged relatives.
It first has the feel of a video game, where he chases a Wall Street broker (Ruff Law) to his yacht, then a Bushwick trustfarian (Zach Woods) into his dark room on the rooftop, then a two-faced televangelist (Topher Grace) into the office of his megachurch. With each successful murder, Beckett gets one step closer to the big boss, his ornery grandfather Whitelaw Redfellow (Ed Harris, bringing in). love Lies Bleeding Threat to higher social class).
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However, where Qualley’s waspy seductress has the devil on her shoulder, an angel appears in Jessica Henwick, who plays Ruth, an ambitious high school teacher who is proud of her “little dreams.” Which woman – and thus which path – will Beckett choose? Finding out it’s not as fun as it should be.
Glen Powell has been wrongly included How to murder.
As in Edgar Wright running man In the remake, this strong-jawed leading man with brilliant white, straight teeth is presented as a working-class man who is humiliated by a wealthy ruling class who ridicules his suffering. However, Powell does not appear to be working class, no matter how much he combs his hair.
Admittedly, Beckett was born into a life of privilege, so you could argue that’s the point. Ok. But the other problem is that Powell isn’t as funny as the supporting players around him. the law is taking its course The Wolf of Wall Street Slapping around as a finance bro without any self-awareness. Woods is extremely comical as a self-important photographer who has more money than sight. Grace, who looks troubled with a deep spray tan and lots of tattoos, is hugely entertaining as a modern-day pastor whose real passion is scamming. Add to that bill camp (drive-away doll) as a self-loathing uncle and Qualley as an over-the-top vamp, and you have a stellar supporting cast backing Powell up for the punchlines. And he can’t even land on the ground. (No offense to Henwick. She’s been cast to play the one-note nice girl, so she doesn’t get much in the way of jokes.)
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Powell plays the underdog, but he has the gentleness of a leading man. And as Ford’s thriller reached its climax, I was disappointed to find that I didn’t feel invested in Beckett’s journey because it didn’t feel remotely real to me. While everyone else had found the characters charming, bold and – albeit poorly written – defined, Powell’s revenge-seeking killer, despite his killing spree, left me uninterested.
how to kill Not shocking, surprising, or funny.
Ford conceives of unexpected ways to kill the first pair of cousins. However, for those looking for gory spectacle, as is common for eat-the-rich comedies, you will be disappointed by how often deaths occur outside the frame. There’s nothing as heart-breaking as an orgasm parasite‘s party, or equally disgusting triangle of sorrowVomit fests, or as satisfying as gloopy explosions ready or Not. And Ford certainly doesn’t do genre-bending as effectively as Sam Raimi. send help.
For those expecting an exciting cat-and-mouse game with FBI agents coming after the second murder, you will be disappointed by how the officers are portrayed as both extremely incompetent and, suddenly, incredibly competent depending on the needs of the plot.
how to kill It’s not shocking in its violence, but it is adventurous in the interweaving of its plot. For a movie that focuses on how its anti-hero manages to get away with murder, it’s absurd to ignore specific evidence like DNA as a plot point.
But the most frustrating thing is how how to kill It offers neither political satire nor cheap thrills, offering a tired cautionary tale about the pursuit of money at all costs. The other comedies I’ve mentioned not only use their distorted stories to entertain, but also to inspire their audiences to consider how class conflict and wealth inequality impact them and their world. how to kill presents a story that seems bound by Hays Code conventions, old guidelines for Hollywood films intended to keep them from being too subversive or controversial. While that code went out of fashion in the 1960s, watching a movie in 2026 is worrying a 24Like the phenomenal studio behind great cinema Lady Bird, Moonlight, Florida Project, And everything everywhere at once, Delivering hearty foodie comedy in a very entertaining manner.
how to kill Will be released in theaters on 20th February.
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