Late to the Party: They Will Kill You is a thrill-packed bloody blast

Based on its crazy fun trailer, I wanted to see They Will Kill You when I first read about it. But, as so often happens in my life, I missed it in theaters. I had a weekend free, and had to decide between Ready or Not 2: Here I Come and They Will Kill You, so guess which one I chose. I didn’t really regret it, because RON2 was great…but They Will Kill You had lackluster box office performance, and wasn’t in theatres for very long.

It began streaming on HBO Max on June 12, so I watched it over the weekend, and I was not disappointed. It was even crazier and more over-the-top than the trailer suggested, and that’s always a plus in my book.

The movie opens with Asia (Zazie Beetz) and her younger sister Maria trying to escape their abusive father. Unfortunately, he finds them, and Asia ends up shooting him. While he doesn’t die, Asia runs off, leaving her sister behind, and ends up in prison.

Blood is thicker than water in They Will Kill You

Upon her release, Asia goes off in search of her sister, tracking her to a mysterious, lavish hotel called The Virgil. She has stolen the identity of a woman who has been hired at the hotel, so the owner of the place, Lily (Patricia Arquette) doesn’t realize she isn’t who she claims to be when Asia shows up at her front door.

That very night, some people wearing masks bust into Asia’s room, and soon find out that she is more than capable of protecting herself. I loved how she had a look of shock on her face during the first confrontation, like she was just as surprised about her abilities as the people she was fighting. She manages to kill them, only for them to come back to life shortly afterwards.

It seems The Virgil is actually a temple built to honor Satan, and the residents have been made immortal by sacrificing their souls to him. Yes, Asia’s sister Maria is one of the maids, but she is harboring a secret.

The action sequences in They Will Kill You are an absolute blast, the colorful sets made me think of the ones in Dust Bunny, and the gore is spectacular. One of the characters literally gets her face shot off, and as she resurrects, her head has to grow back slowly, which is really funny.

Beetz is a great lead, and definitely holds her own against the big names in the cast, such as Arquette and Heather Graham. The fight scenes are straight out of films like Kill Bill, and I really enjoyed them. And you just have to love the hell out a film that lets Satan talk via a severed pig’s head, and allows Asia to fight off her enemies with a fiery axe!

I really regret that I didn’t see They Will Kill You when it was in theatres.

NEXT: The Boroughs is a fun watch with plenty of heart