REVIEW: HOW TO MAKE A KILLING
THE GIST
Apparently the working title was “How To Slowly Force The General Public To Like Glen Powell”
THE REVIEW
SPOILERY
EXPECTATIONS
This is one of the February Cinema releases I kinda wanted to see but never got round to/afford to. Just happened to be the only other appropriately scheduled movie to watch before an advanced public screening of Project Hail Mary.
The premise seemed interesting and the trailers looked ok. To be honest though, if Margaret Qualley wasn’t in this I probably would have given this a pass.
Not a fan of Glen Powell, he is ok. I put him in the same basket as Sydney Sweeney. They are generically good looking people with medium acting abilities that the studios seem to love. I don’t doubt either of them could be in something amazing one day to prove me wrong, but I am still waiting. Their faces just annoy me for some reason. Why? Why am I like this? I don’t know. Margaret Qualley’s mom, Andie MacDowell has the same effect on me. No idea why, perfectly good actress.
I have seen the director’s first film before this, Emily The Criminal and I think I remember and liked it? So I watched it again, the night before. Aubrey Plaza owned that role. And I liked the movie, it had depth, it had character. I’m kinda hoping How To Make A Killing will be in a similar vein tonally but I suspect it’s a bit more silly.
Films about heirs/inheritance are not new. My favourites growing up were Brewsters Millions starring Richard Pryor and Greedy starring Michael J. Fox. The most recent one I liked with this theme was Knives Out. So I was curious as to how this film would approach it.
I have heard that there is a twist ending. Whether that is one you can see a mile away or is a genuine surprise remain to be seen. The fact that I know there will be a twist ending could impact my experience of the film.
CONTEXT
Director John Patton Ford's screenplay originally appeared on the 2014 Black List under the title Rothchild. In 2019, Jon S. Baird signed on to direct the film, with Shia LaBeouf and Mel Gibson starring. Development of the film resumed in March 2023, with plans for Ford to direct the film himself. The film, retitled Huntington, was reportedly inspired by the 1949 film Kind Hearts and Coronets by Robert Hamer and John Dighton.
In January 2024, Glen Powell was cast in the lead role, and Margaret Qualley and Ed Harris joined in May 2024. Jessica Henwick, Topher Grace, Zach Woods, Raff Law and Bill Camp joined the cast in June 2024, with principal photography commencing. The film was shot in Cape Town, employing hundreds of local South African cast, crew, and extras. In November 2025, Powell told The Hollywood Reporter that the film would be getting a new title, which was revealed a week later as How to Make a Killing.
THE PLOT
Disowned by his obscenely wealthy family, Becket Redfellow will stop at nothing to reclaim his inheritance, no matter how many relatives stand in his way.
THE EXPERIENCE
If I was looking for something to watch on streaming and found this, I would be like, that was a good movie, that pleasantly filled the night in. As a cinema experience? In hind sight I would give it a miss.
THE MEAT
The director: After just watching John Patton Ford’s first and only movie before this, I thought knew what to expect. I liked Emily The Criminal but I was worried that How To Make A Killing would have a sillier tone than that. And it did, don’t get me wrong, but it ended up not being silly enough. With the absurdity of the material it could have used more levity.
The story: I was expecting it to be a straight forward generic plot line but it was surprisingly more complex. It didn’t go the way I thought it would. Although about midway through the film I thought that 1 of 2 other characters may end up with the fortune. I was leaning towards the character who didn’t end up getting it though. Honestly, I thought it would be revealed at the end that the girlfriend was pregnant with the next in line to the fortune and she would have planned it the whole time. I was wrong. So the story was not so generic that I easily guessed the ending. Just like the movie earlier this year, No Other Choice, the story seemed to move to quickly turning a normal human being into a cold blooded killer. John Patton Ford should have taken a leaf from his first movie, that one carefully unfolded Aubrey Plaza’s character decent into crime.
The performances: Probably the first time I have seen the charm in Glenn Powell that I think other people seem to love. He is good at what he does in these sorts of films, but can he do anything else? I recently heard someone has the brass balls to remake American Psycho and I think Glenn Powell definitely has the look but lacks the acting chops to pull something like that off. Margaret Qualley was devilish and delightful. I thought she was going to be the main love interest, and she was, in a twisted way I guess. Her character was a true gold digging sociopath and she played it well. Maybe she should be the next American Psycho? Jessica Henwick played the sweet love interest and she played it genuinely. I was a bit heartbroken for her at the end.
The editing: Parts of the movie felt like the music should have been cranked up and edited like an early Edgar Wright or Guy Ritchie film. The great score was there but it was in the background along with the subdued editing.
SUMMARY
It was a perfectly fine film. The sort of movie I will see on streaming in the future and struggle to remember what happened in it but vaguely remember it was a good film. I like Glen Powell a little more but this movie won’t be on my best heir/inheritance list anytime soon.
6.5/10
