How to Make a Killing, director John Patton Ford’s follow up to 2022’s Emily the Criminal, is an entertaining, but ultimately disappointing, thriller that never fully finds its footing. Bogged down by its narrative framing and lack of comedic timing, How to Make a Killing is also, unfortunately, another miss for Glen Powell.
The film stars Powell as Becket Redfellow, a descendant of the wealthy Redfellow family. Though his mother, Mary, was disowned before Becket was even born, he remains in the running for the family inheritance. Becket’s mother raised him to rise above his station, and so when Becket realizes that only seven family members stand between him and the family fortune, he takes matters into his own hands by killing them himself. As members of the Redfellow family die off, Becket takes their place, allowing him to reconnect with his family and bringing him into the life of financial security he always hoped for. Becket ends up torn between completing his mission and becoming a billionaire, or settling for a comfortable life within the family he’s always yearned to be part of.
While the concept is entertaining, the film’s presentation is lacking. How to Make a Killing begins with Becket on death row, presumably having been arrested for his series of murders. When a priest comes to speak with him, Becket tells him the story of his life: the entire film shows past events being retold. This isn’t a narrative device that always bothers me, but the execution here makes the film feel like it never gets to exist on its own without constant explanation and exposition. We constantly cut back to Becket and the priest, and while some of these moments are comedic, the jumps back to Becket’s past occur so quickly that jokes don’t have a chance to breathe. It’s ultimately the narration that makes this film feel so clunky, and while it creates an opportunity for some plot twists later in the runtime, I would definitely have preferred to see the events of the film play out in real time, without Becket’s constant explanations.
To make matters worse, the plot of How to Make a Killing isn’t particularly innovative and has been executed in far better ways. Just last December, Park Chan-wook’s No Other Choice told the story of an unemployed man who, desperate to find work, begins killing his fellow applicants. No Other Choice is much funnier, has more to say about class and does all of this without feeling like it’s trying too hard to get its point across.
What I found most interesting was the character of Becket and his psychology throughout the film. How to Make a Killing never went exactly where I expected it to, and as Becket is pushed into increasingly difficult decisions, the film is able to explore some interesting questions surrounding class. We witness his mother Mary as a teenager, making the bold decision to keep her child and lose the support of her family. She raises Becket the way she was raised, despite their lack of funds, pushing him into her former social circles and giving him the same education she received. After hearing his whole life that he should aspire to something more, it makes sense that Becket can’t imagine a happy life where he isn’t rich. Later in the film, when Ruth (Jessica Henwick), Becket’s girlfriend, admits she gave up her lifelong dream of working in fashion, despite having found success, to have a career in teaching, simply because she likes it more, Becket visibly struggles to understand. When she asks if he enjoys working in finance, he responds in confusion. What Becket likes is the idea of being rich, and he can’t imagine being satisfied with anything less.
The film definitely has its moments, but as a whole, How to Make a Killing is a weaker, less confident copy of much better class commentaries. While the film is often entertaining, John Patton Ford still feels a little unsure as a writer-director, which prevents the film from reaching its full potential.
‘Projections’ is a column focused on reviewing recent film releases.
Nicholas York is a member of the Class of 2027 in the College of Arts and Sciences. He is a staff writer for the Arts & Culture department and can be reached at nyork@cornellsun.com.
