‘They Will Kill You’ Review: Zazie Beetz Shines in a Stylish but Repetitive Bloodbath
It's about time Zazie Beetz wields a sword. She’s deserved her own action vehicle since Deadpool 2, but nobody gave it to her. Kirill Sokolov got her on her Pam Grier shit, fighting against a bunch of Deadpools. By that I mean immortal Satanists. They Will Kill You is a Quentin Tarantino-inspired action thriller that blends ‘70s blaxploitation, kung fu flicks, and neo-westerns stylistically. For the most part, it works for the first 40 minutes, then loses its luster, turning into a long, tedious, bloody action cartoon with flat, crass dialogue and barely any character development. It doesn't help that I watched They Will Kill You a few days after seeing Ready or Not 2at SXSW 2026. It also doesn’t help that its release is a week after Ready or Not 2.
Image copyright (©) Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures
MPA Rating: R (strong bloody violence, gore, language and brief sexual content/nudity.)
Runtime: 1 Hour and 34 Minutes
Language: English
Production Companies: New Line Cinema, Nocturna
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
Director: Kirill Sokolov
Screenwriters: Kirill Sokolov, Alex Litvak
Cast: Zazie Beetz, Myha'la, Paterson Joseph, Tom Felton, Heather Graham, Patricia Arquette
U.S Release Date: March 27, 2026
Asia Reaves (Beetz) travels to New York City to The Virgil, a posh cathedral high-rise, to save her estranged sister Maria (Myha'la) after they tried to flee their violent father and were unsuccessful, ending up in prison. She goes hoping to land a housekeeper job, and the host Lilith Woodhouse (Patricia Arquette) gets her settled. But when pig-masked people try to ambush her, Asia holds her own and fucks up her foes with guns and swords. However, it's going to take more than bullets and blades to take them down, as they are all immortal Satanists. Now Asia must find Maria, survive the unkillable devil worshippers, and bring her home.
They Will Kill You delivers stylish throwback thrills.
Caption: ZAZIE BEETZ as Asia in New Line Cinema/Nocturna’s “They Will Kill You,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release.
They Will Kill You wears its late-20th-Century inspos on its sleeve in the first half, which provides great fun at first. Sokolov takes advantage of the negative space of his surroundings, using old-school crash zooms and practical heavy blood spurts, which you'd see in blaxploitation or kung fu flicks, within a Kubrick-inspired interior. Given that we don't have Tarantino flicks as often as we used to when many modern studio action movies are of the grating, over-polished quality, it's nice to see a filmmaker adept at the old-school flair. Beetz’s Asia possesses a fierce, classic-hero look, mowing down immortals in gym shorts, barefoot like The Bride, and wielding a sword and a shotgun throughout the performance.
The fun peaks early, as the novelty of Zazie Beetz fighting immortal, rich Satanists wears thin. The film goes from set piece to set piece, with its action star fighting in different corridors where Sokolov gets to flex his action direction muscles. But all the sequences play out the same: Zazie wields different weapons, a good hip-hop track blares in the background, she kills in slow motion, only for them to respawn a few minutes after. At a certain point, you get the sense that there’s no real build-up or progression towards anything. It’s like playing a “survive the horde” mode in a video game. The fight and stunt coordination, along with the filmmaking, is brilliant before the supernatural reveal as she takes down some cult members (Tom Felton, Heather Graham, Willie Ludik, Gabe Gabriel) head-on. However, They Will Kill You fails to deliver on Virgil’s floor themes highlighted early on, making this high-rise feel low and one-note.
They Will Kill You undercuts Zazie Beetz’s star portrayal with thin crass writing.
Caption: (L-R) PATERSON JOSEPH as RAY, TOM FELTON as Kevin, MYHA’LA as Maria, WILLIE LUDIK as Bob, HEATHER GRAHAM as Sharon, GABE GABRIEL as Small Steve, ZAZIE BEETZ as Asia, DAVID VIVIERS as Tall Steve, and PATRICIA ARQUETTE as Lily Woodhouse in New Line Cinema/Nocturna’s “They Will Kill You,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release.
Kirill Sokolov and Alex Litvak's script does a disservice to its stars with weak character writing. Asia bears the brunt of this, as she initially had a silent but deadly Samurai Jack vibe. It devolved into her spouting cheap, vulgar crassness to everyone around her. Admittedly, it's a valid response when hunted down by immortal Satanists, but running around saying "fuck you" isn’t exactly satisfying. The idea of Beetz and Myha'la portraying sisters is great on paper, but their material is relatively thin. When your best character is Heather Graham's eyeball – at the premiere, her name was Iris – then you know your writing is weak.
Final Statement
Despite a commendable performance by Zazie Beetz and skillful filmmaking, They Will Kill You goes from a delightful, blood-soaked ‘70s-style remix to a tedious experience due to its repetitive plotting and inadequate writing.
