In The Horror Film, “They Will Kill You,” Zazie Beatz Battles a Cult of Rich Satanists To Save Her Sister
- Details
- Parent Category: Film and the Arts
- Category: Reviews
- Published on Thursday, 09 April 2026 19:34
- Written by Brad Balfour
Film: “They Will Kill You”
Director: Kirill Sokolov,
Cast: Zazie Beetz, Myha’la, Patricia Arquette, Tom Felton, Heather Graham
In “They Will Kill You,” Asia Reaves (Zazie Beetz) takes a maid job at The Virgil, a 100-year-old apartment building in the heart of New York City. Long a place where the elite, the one percenters, have called it “home,” she’s not there for simple employment but for a deadly purpose. Her true motives for taking the gig are soon revealed.
Not unlike the Continental in The John Wick series, the building may seem like just another impressive piece of Gilded Age architecture built for the wealthy. But it’s really housing something much more: a devil-worshipping cult that has been granted immortality in exchange for finding human sacrifices for Satan.
In the opening sequence, Asia abandons her younger sister Maria (Myha’la) after the two run away from their abusive father. He tracks them down and Asia shoots him, but he survives and takes her sister away to endure further years of abuse.
Meanwhile, Asia goes to prison for the next decade. While in prison she’s hardened up and has trained to defend herself through whatever means is necessary.
Once she’s freed, Asia tracks down her long-lost sibling to the building, which has a dark history of the help going missing. It soon becomes clear that the building’s tenants have nefarious plans for her, intending to make her an offering to Satan in exchange for continued immortality. But, Asia comes prepared with a bag full of weapons and the determination to save her sister. Little does she know that her sister isn’t quite on board for being rescued as she had planned.
Underpinning the movie’s high-octane action sequences, the film features an iconic ensemble cast, from Patricia Arquette‘s Irish building superintendent Lilith to wealthy tenants Kevin (Tom Felton) and Sharon (Heather Graham.) Each brings unhinged performances to their characters as cult members in this high-octane, adrenaline-pumping flick. Given her Irish background, Lilith provides a bridge between the wealthy owners and the ethnic staffers — having married a Black man a century ago before coming to the building and gaining immortality.
For example, Asia blows Graham’s head away, splattering blood, bones and brains everywhere. What remains is a stump where the head was, with the body still flailing about. But because she’s immortal, the next scene shows a tiny head regrowing where the shoulders were. It’s bizarre, sort of funny and repulsive as ever.
Director Kirill Sokolov is quite a student of filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino and even earlier ones like Sam Peckinpah. He spares no blood throughout the film, with red spraying from wounds and viscera everywhere. He uses some creative visual tricks that test the limits of his villains’ invincibility.
With nods to samurai films and shoot-'em-ups, Beetz gives the physical performance of a lifetime, wielding swords, machetes and shotguns while firing at a gang of evil residents. Asia and Maria also pack an emotional punch with their tragic story of complicated sisterhood, pushing the pair to reconnect and make things right. Although Satan prefers blood, it turns out the most impactful sacrifices come from love.
Sokolov offers his genre-driven take on satanic cults, with touches of humor and heart and lots of red. Thanks to a stellar cast, led by this pair of newly minted ‘Scream Queens’, audiences will root for them to eliminate the one percent. Obviously, the movie appeals to audiences beyond just the horror film fans due to its underlying political message -- that the wealthy willingly sacrificing anyone beneath them for fealty to Satan. Though I'm not sure it was a conscious notion to express this socially conscious element -- beat down the rich because they have no moral rudder -- that certainly makes the film more relevant than ever in this day and age.