REVIEW — “How to Make a Killing”

In A24’s How to Make a Killing, writer and director John Patton Ford (Emily the Criminal) delivers a pitch-black comedy that explores the lethal lengths one man will go to for money and revenge.

Glen Powell stars as Becket Redfellow, the bastard son of a disowned and deceased heiress. After a lifetime of blue-collar struggle, Becket embarks on a bloody mission to reclaim his inheritance by systematically eliminating the seven relatives who stand in his way to the head of the $28 billion Redfellow family fortune. Sometimes murdering with intent, other times by sheer, clumsy luck, Becket makes murder (and getting away with it) seem relatively easy.

As the film’s morally-grey protagonist, Powell is devilishly charming and grounds the film’s absurdity with his signature charisma. He portrays Becket as a man navigating the moral minefield of continuing his nefarious plan of murder or settling into the financially comfortable and promising life that he’s stumbled into.

At one point, his future includes an elite Wall Street job in the family business thanks to his generous newfound uncle/mentor Warren Redfellow (Bill Camp) as well as an engagement to a genuinely loving and trusting fiance (Jessica Henwick) who is oblivious to his murderous misdeeds.

However, Becket’s new life begins to unravel once childhood frenemy Julia (Margaret Qualley) catches on to his bloody get-rich scheme. Portraying Julia with sardonic command, Qualley is a spark plug of a scene-stealer. Equal parts tempting vixen and scorned lover, she is a force to be reckoned with, luring Becket into a diabolically twisted game of cat and mouse.

The film functions as both a serious moral commentary and a biting satire on the pursuit of wealth that serves as a grim reminder that (sigh) rich and powerful elites will get away with just about anything, bypassing any consequence or accountability, provided they are willing to suppress their humanity and silence their conscience.

Balancing comical slasher elements with a cynical look at class warfare, Ford’s script can feel slightly undercooked, favoring slickness over a deeper exploration of Becket’s psyche. While the film is stylish and maintains a confident momentum that keeps audiences engaged, it quickly skirts over its more intriguing elements such as how Becket plots each murder.

Despite those narrative hiccups, the film is a killer time at the movies, especially during the finale’s gut punching twist. Also starring Zach Woods, Topher Grace, and Ed Harris, How to Make a Killing proves that money can’t buy happiness. 3.5/5

Rated R with a running time of 105 minutes, How to Make a Killing opens only in theaters on February 20, 2026.