How To Make A Killing

 

This review may contain spoilers!

How To Make A Killing follows Becket Redfellow, a forgotten heir to the Redfellow family fortune. No longer satisfied with an ordinary life, Becket sets out to kill his way through the family tree.

There are so many films these days about the pursuit of wealth, clawing one's way through the rat race or becoming consumed with ambition. I took a great deal of delight in the satirical way the wealthy characters were captured in this film. The Redfellows are presented as old money elites, having a grand manor and their own mausoleum with a refined manner that sets them above. Yet, the other heir-apparents provide a neat critique of new money as well. From throwing money out of a helicopter to clamouring onlookers, doing performative 'hippie' art or carving out a life as an evangelical mega-church preacher, the Redfellows are a witty take on the vapid lives of the one percent. The web of intrigue around Becket, whether he will get away with it or if he will get caught, steadily pulls you in more and more. I also loved the darker turn in those final moments of the film. You expect Becket to find salvation or choose a moral path, but he clings to his pursuit of wealth like a deal made with the Devil. It's a surprising yet fitting end for a character who has already compromised himself so much for money and status.

The score for this film is so entirely unique, it's a real display of creative music within film. The frantic piano undertones in a scene drive the tension, while the alarming rhythm as things barrel out of control had me hooked completely.

Glen Powell, who played Becket Redfellow, is quite capable as the charismatic lead for this thriller; he seems cocky and sure which works well for his character's rise and fall. Ed Harris, who played Whitelaw Redfellow, is a very domineering patriarch; his scene with Powell showed a fascinating cold sense of wisdom. Bill Camp, who played Warren Redfellow, is a surprisingly charismatic and likeable mark on Becket's hitlist; Camp brings forth a rich man who is weathered but good-natured at his core. Zach Woods, who played Noah Redfellow, is an absolutely hilarious take on a rich kid dabbling into the world of bohemian art; Woods is an eccentric and unpredictable performer resulting in some of the funniest scenes of the film. Jessica Henwick, who played Ruth, is a character who is entirely firm in her principles; Henwick is effortlessly likeable which makes some of the later conflict so difficult to see play out. Topher Grace, who played Steven Redfellow, is a true wild card; Grace gets pretty frenzied as this larger-than-life evangelical preacher wielding a guitar and katana.

However, the best performance came from Margaret Qualley, who played Julia. This character feels incredibly refined at times, like she wears her desire for wealth like a coat. And if you were to try to remove said coat, she would probably kill you. Qualley is absolutely electric here, a complete black widow in the traditional sense. She performs a lot, presents herself as an object of desire, but is probably the most intelligent character in the film. She seems to thrill in being able to toy with other characters and dangles Becket like a puppet on strings. She's a constant adversary, often underestimated, who makes the tilt into the final act an absolute thrill. Qualley is absolutely crazy in this, and you understand how much as it rolls on, a really impressive leading role for her.

This film suffers from what I would like to call, death by narration. The pity of this film is that it's quite interesting as a premise, but very early on we have the narrative device of Becket narrating his own story introduced (though the narration is a present-day conversation with a priest). This sets a very rigid tone that suffers from having a lot of the film explained to you, rather than creatively delivered. More than this, the beginning of the film isn't a great start. It spends a lot of the time rushing us through who Becket is and where he comes from, without taking much time to really let us connect with any of the characters. How To Make A Killing really has quite a steady, relaxed approach to storytelling, which can really see the tone contrast with the premise at times.

The way this film is shot is remarkably boring, there are few frames that I would say really thrilled me. There's not really a strong sense of design to this movie, it hasn't been treated as a creative endeavour visually. The editing is also staggered with slow cuts peppering a scene, adding to a slower paced film. The soundtrack jumps around in terms of how it contributes to the film, there's not many musical tracks that land an effective blow.

Adrian Lukis, who played Father Morris, gives quite a muted performance as a priest; Lukis could just as easily have been a wall as he was just there for Powell to talk at. Nell Williams, who played Mary Redfellow, doesn't show much impact for the tough figure she is written as being; Williams really needs a chance to actually show a relationship with Becket, which is never properly given. Grady Wilson and Maggie Toomey, who played Young Becket and Young Julia respectively, give pretty simplistic establishing performances; this doesn't lend the history or depth required for when these characters then meet later on. Phumi Tau and Stevel Marc, who played Megan Pinfield and Brad Matthews respectively, are quite dull as the lead Federal authroity characters of the film; this pair seeming so ineffectual took an element of risk out of the feature.

A pretty tilted resolution and a stellar cast made this a thriller worth watching. I would give How To Make A Killing a 7.5/10.