Hell to Pay

They Will Kill You opens with a soaking wet Zazie Beetz waiting to start her maid job at swanky apartment building, The Virgil. Her character Asia is a former convict who has no idea her new employers are devil worshipers who sacrifice their staff to Lucifer. The building residents have no idea that Asia is actually there for reasons other than a steady paycheque and is not about to go gently into that good night. The touch paper is soon lit on a relentless blend of slapstick horror action that leaves little room for you to catch your breath across its ninety minute odd runtime.

The most obvious comparison here is to 2019's Ready or Not and its sequel (which coincidentally released one week before this film), where an unsuspecting bride is left fighting for her life when her wealthy in-laws opt to make her a human sacrifice. While They Will Kill You shares that movie's comedic spirit we are much deeper into supernatural territory here. The grand old building and seemingly nice inhabitants evokes the classic devil worship films of the 70s (there's even a kid called Damien), and our leading lady is a fighter from the beginning. Think if the satanic cult from Rosemary's Baby picked on The Bride from Kill Bill.

With the wealthy sacrificing the desperate setup there is room for some light social commentary, with Patricia Arquette appearing as that most heinous of all screen villains, the class traitor. The focus is really on the carnage though and the film doesn't waste any time getting to the action. It takes barely fifteen minutes for the blood and body parts to go flying samurai style and with backstory told in small chunks throughout the runtime, it never lets up for long. A supernatural twist means the maiming can be pushed to ridiculous levels and the practical effects put the emphasis on style rather than realism, meaning the gore is fun rather than stomach churning.

Russian writer/director Kirill Sokolov takes great pleasure in placing said gory action front and centre. There are some Shining-esque sweeping corridor shots to establish the menacing atmosphere but once the action kicks in everything is shot simply, in a way that lets the fight choreography shine.

It is made to shine by its leading lady who puts in the physical work to sell every slice and thump. Beetz really should be a megastar by now and her cool charisma carries the film. There are some familiar faces filling out the roles of gown wearing cultists including Heather Graham and Tom Felton and everyone is solid enough, even if Patricia Arquette delivers an Irish accent that isn't even remotely familiar with the Emerald Isle.

They Will Kill You is an easy film to recommend as even if you aren't totally on its wavelength there is scant time to actually get bored. The story is paper thin, but it's really only there as a means to deliver cathartic carnage and the film delivers on everything it promises. It might not live particularly long in the memory but it is a very enjoyable hour and a half.

8 evil pig heads out of 10.

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