THEY WILL KILL YOU
**
Directed by Kirill Sokolov.
Starring Zazie Beetz, Patricia Arquette, Myha’la.
Horror, US, 94 Minutes, Certificate 15.
Released in Cinemas in the UK on 27th March by Warner Bros
Like buses, you wait ages for a film featuring a badass female protagonist taking the fight to a bunch of devil worshippers while simultaneously dealing with an estranged sister, then two come along at once. Exactly one week after the release of READY OR NOT 2: HERE I COME we are now treated to Russian director Kirill Sokolov’s THEY WILL KILL YOU, a film which contains the same premise but decidedly forges its own path in terms of style and plot. Sadly however the results are nowhere near as satisfying as they were last week.
Zazie Beetz plays Asia Reaves, a young woman expecting to start her new housekeeping job at The Virgil, a tall imposing hotel that stands out in the rain drenched New York skyline. Taking no notice of the red neon pentagram that sits atop its roof or the large engraving of a devilish figure committing devilish acts, Asia is still unnerved by the welcoming, over friendly presence of the Virgil’s guests and staff, led by the stern Lilith, played by Patricia Arquette who seemingly decided thirty minutes into the film to play her character with a terrible Irish accent. Asia soon realises that something is amiss, especially when a bunch of hooded and armed figures creep into her room in the middle of the night. Unbeknownst to these intruders however, Asia has her own private reasons for coming into this particular hotel while packing a satchel bag full of heavy weaponry.
Even if you were to remove the fact of this film being released so closely to Radio Silence’s effortlessly fun film, there is still a lot here that feels, and looks, very familiar. Sokolov aims to recreate the style and pace of vintage action Hong Kong films and Spaghetti Westerns with a large amount of stylistic flourishes such as crash zooms and whip pans, flinging the camera about every which way. In his debut film WHY DON’T YOU JUST DIE, this worked a treat, giving that film a kinetic energy and sense of carnage that kept the viewer on their toes, turning a tale of an unsuspecting man dealing with his future in-laws into a blood soaked film that turned an apartment building into an arena of death. With the paper thin story on offer here however, the results have none of the verve and impact that his fun and gory previous film had. Instead it feels like he is aping KILL BILL era Tarantino. Impersonating a famed director who was paying homage to his own favourite action films at the time makes this feel like little more than a photocopy of a photocopy.
Various other films spring to mind as set-piece after set-piece is trundled out, leaving very litt;e room for anything else interesting such as character development or interactions. The thinness of the film only returns to your mind again and again as other films such as THE RAID, OLDBOY and HOTEL ARTEMIS are referenced in terms of choreography and plot points, further enforcing the feeling that you have been here before. Many times.
There are bright spots and flashes of fun to be had. The true nature of the Virgil’s guests provides an interesting wrinkle, while there are a sprinkling of action scenes that play out nicely across wide shots in a lengthy nature, displaying a degree of inventiveness that is sorely needed elsewhere and as a chance for Beetz to prove herself as an action star. Such a shame that she doesn't get to show off her skills properly or that Sokolov stumbles here after the promise he showed with his debut, despite the outlandish edge that leaps to the screen in the films closing act. Action and horror fans looking for nothing more than a quick fix may find this a pleasant enough diversion, but the thin storyline, hollow emotional edge and over familiar action beats conspire to consign the film far, far away from the other films it tries to pay homage to.
Iain MacLeod