Directed by Kirill Sokolov and co-written with Alex Litvak, They Will Kill You is an original action comedy horror film about an ex-convict who answers an ad to be a housekeeper at a mysterious New York City high-rise. Starring Zazie Beetz, Patricia Arquette, Tom Felton, Heather Graham and more, They Will Kill You is now hacking and slashing its way into cinemas worldwide.

Ex-convict Asia Reaves takes a job as a housekeeper in a New York high-rise known as the Virgil, unaware of the building’s history of disappearances. Her real reason for being there is to find her sister, Maria, but she soon realises the community is a cult shrouded in mystery and is out to kill her. Unfortunately for them, Asia Reaves has come prepared.

Zazie Beetz leads a star-studded cast as Asia Reaves, an unassuming woman who will stop at nothing to get her sister back. The film is full of action, and Zazie gets plenty of opportunities to show off her ferocity on screen and look amazing as she dismembers her enemies. She also gets to show different emotions as she learns more about the hellish place she’s in, but seeing her hack, slash and shotgun blast everyone is the main reason to watch this film. There aren’t surprisingly many action films with a black female lead, so it’s great to see more of them, and Zazie Beetz is a fantastic example and makes the most of this opportunity, showing that representation matters.

Patricia Arquette plays Lilith Woodhouse, the Irish superintendent at the Virgil and the leader of the cult. She has a kind of snobby, upper-class personality and a wicked side with a lot of mystery. Without giving too much away, she is someone not to be messed with. Other members of the cult include Heather Graham as Sharon and former Harry Potter star Tom Felton as Kevin, among others. It’s interesting seeing big-name stars in smaller roles, but they get plenty of big moments throughout the film as they hunt down and attempt to kill Asia Reaves.

They Will Kill You is an action-heavy film filled with gore, but it also has an interesting story. Asia Reaves is a normal human who gained her fighting skills from all the prison brawls she’s been in for the past ten years, even if it doesn’t explain her weapon skills, but we aren’t complaining.

The building run by a satanic cult creates an interesting setting, and the members don’t die, no matter how many times Asia cuts them up. They heal fast, regenerate and can even put themselves back together, which also creates some humorous moments, especially the rolling eyeball.

The story gets wilder and wilder as it progresses, and everything is explained bit by bit. The action and gory violence aren’t just for the sake of it and are all relevant to the plot. In other action films, the plot feels less important, and audiences are just waiting for the next action sequence, but in They Will Kill You, the action, violence and story all mix together flawlessly, where you can’t have one without the other.

The movie also has its fair share of comedy, which will have you giggling and some emotional scenes which don’t land quite as well. This is no fault of the cast, but the emotional scenes just feel like they take a backseat to everything else the film does so well. They’re still necessary and important to the plot and don’t take anything away from what the movie gets right. The ending also doesn’t feel as impactful as the rest of the film, leaving you wanting more, but moviegoers will still feel satisfied after everything they’ve seen.

The action and ultra-violence are what truly carry this film. Zazie Beetz looks ferocious on screen, even while covered in blood and guts. She certainly looks like a bona fide action hero, but what also makes her entertaining to watch is that she’s not perfect and makes mistakes. When she’s struggling, it creates suspense and keeps audiences in anticipation with how she overcomes those situations. The action and suspenseful moments are full of creative ideas, even reusing old ones, and have the main character fail rather than succeed. It makes every moment exciting to watch and refreshing to see.

The violence is not for the faint of heart, and the film has the R18+ rating for a reason and doesn’t shy away from the gory scenes. Bodies will be dismembered and littered everywhere, and the fact that the members of the cult can’t actually die means we get to see more and more violence as Asia doesn’t hesitate to kill them again.

She has an assortment of weapons, including a sword/machete and a double-barreled shotgun, and uses other weapons she finds along the way. The most brutal weapon is the flaming axe, as seen in the trailers, and those scenes are a spectacle to behold. The film is full of action and violence.

The building itself looks like it’s from the 1920s and has a dark, haunting, unsettling feeling, and seeing supernatural events adds to the creepy atmosphere. It looks rich and fancy at first, especially with all the housekeepers maintaining it, but it’s not long until we see the ugly side. It’s described as the house from hell with no way out, and Zazie Beetz looks absolutely fierce as she tries to fight her way out while searching for her sister.

The music was composed by Carlos Rafael Rivera and features the usual deep orchestral tracks for a horror film, as well as plenty of hardcore hip-hop to complement the bloody action scenes. Hearing these heart-thumping beats feels natural and will get you in the mood to see Zazie Beetz slay her enemies and leave trails of body parts behind.

It’s a shame the film hasn’t gotten the advertising and marketing it deserves, because a lot of people who would be interested in seeing an ultra-violent action flick are going to miss out big time, especially with all the big movies coming out this year. With only a 1-hour and 35-minute runtime, it has more than enough to leave audiences satisfied without overstaying its welcome.

They Will Kill You is a completely original film, not based on anything, which helps it stand out on its own. Zazie Beetz is amongst a star-studded cast, but she more than owns the screen with her badass ferocity and takes shit from no one attitude, who hopefully will get more action roles in future. The action, violence, and story all mix together flawlessly as audiences enjoy the wild, chaotic ride. They Will Kill You is a must-see film and a gloriously violent good time.

Written by: Sammy Hanson