‘How to Make a Killing’ Review: A Delicious Dark Comedy That Highlights Glen Powell’s Charming Ways
4.5/5 inventive kills
There is one kind of genre of storytelling that will instantly captivate me. Call it my obsession but I do love watching a white man be consumed by power and greed. Especially when it leads to his murderous rage. And that’s what A24’s How to Make a Killing gives me.
Mix A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder with American Psycho and you have the latest film from John Patton Ford. How to Make a Killing is told from the perspective of Becket Redfellow (Glen Powell), who is recounting how he murdered the Redfellow family to obtain an inheritance while he is waiting on death row.
Becket’s mother was disowned by her father (Ed Harris) and it led to a less than ideal upbringing for Becket. She still tried to give him everything he could possibly want but when a childhood friend (Margaret Qualley) gives him the idea, Becket runs with it: He’s going to kill off the entire Redfellow line so he can get the inheritance he was never written out of.
The dark comedy has a lot of fun with the “kills” and Becket’s charm (or maybe that’s just Powell’s natural charisma) lends itself to a run ride of a film. And one that really showcases just how fun Glen Powell can be in a role.
A murderous tale of greed
While you’re watching How to Make a Killing, you kind of feel for Becket. He’s not someone you aspire to be but you do get to see how the Redfellow family is all “thriving” and how his mother suffered for simply making a different decision. So even when you don’t support his wrong doings, you can understand them.
Becket isn’t a cold blooded killer but a man who just wanted justice and goes about it in the wrong way. A very wrong way but still. And it is a fascinating look at greed. Becket goes through many evolutions in the film and at one point, he’s incredibly well off even without the inheritance. It shows director and writer John Patton Ford’s ability to weave in layers to the “greed” of the film.
Glen Powell does preppy so well
One of the first things that Powell did that fans recognized him from was Chad Radwell in Scream Queens. A preppy student who wanted nothing more than to do what he wanted, it gave fans an idea of Powell that, while different from who he is, is a sweet spot for him as an actor. And his approach to Becket really drives home that ability.
Powell has always felt a bit like a character actor with the face of a leading man. He uses that to his advantage, especially in movies like How to Make a Killing. Becket gets away with things because he’s a white, handsome man.
But How to Make a Killing does a great job of balancing Becket’s upbringing, the lack of resources he had growing up, with a level of deranged charm that really makes this one of Powell’s best performances.
A fascinating take on wealth
It’d be easy for How to Make a Killing to fall into the trappings of an “Eat the rich” story. And in a way, it does. But it is also something more. It is a revenge story and the idea isn’t to eat the rich for the Robin Hood of it all. He wants to eat the rich for his own benefit.
So much of Ford’s work feels fresh and existing. There are characters within How to Make a Killing, like Jessica Henwick’s Ruth, that show the human side of this film. She’s trying to bring out Becket’s humanity while he is driven by this idea put into his head. All of it makes a fun ride.
How to Make a Killing hits theaters on February 20.
(featured image: A24)
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