There’s a gambling mentality to how Glen Powell is written and to how his character navigates this darkly comedic tale of inheritance and murder. Halfway through the story, his unfortunate character, Becket Redfellow, has ended up in a comfy spot financially, professionally, and romantically. So why risk it all for a higher body count and bank account? Well, the movie is called How to Make a Killing, and it just wouldn’t be true to the title if there weren’t more murders committed and revealed.

On paper, it’s an enticing story of how Powell’s smooth voice narrates his tragic tale of being denied a better life. Backet was the child of a mother whose wealthy family would not support her copulation with a commoner. Kicked out of her family’s home and their money, Becket’s mother had a tough life, and Becket’s adult life turns out even harder. He struggles to maintain a job and is denied a romance with his childhood crush, who grows up to become the seductive Julia (Margaret Qualley). The only way to inherit his wealth is if the rest of the wealthy family dies. Knowing this as well, Julia practically spells out his quest: Kill the rich inheritors, get the money, and live happily ever after with your gradeschool sweetheart.

The most immediate comparison for a film like this is Park Chan-wook’s No Other Choice, in which the protagonist must murder his way into preserving his upper-middle-class job and lifestyle. But while that film was clever and comic, with its messy ordeal of murdering your way to the top, How to Make a Killing dishes out its capitalist satire in a cartoonish yet dull manner. Becket’s moral concerns about knocking off his family are drowned out by how obnoxious and one-note his targets become. Not a hint of remorse is present in the party-animal Taylor (Raff Law), the hotshot Pastor Steven (Topher Grace), and pretentious artist Noah (Zach Woods), who is so far up his butt that he practically hands over his girlfriend Ruth (Jessica Henwick).

This is not to say that the targeted rich jerks must carry any sympathy, especially since there is some humility and humanity in the regretful Uncle Warren (Bill Camp) and the bitterly reserved Grandfather Whitelaw (Ed Harris). If the kills were comical and cunning, the film could still be fun with its cavalcade of snuffed-out snobs. But the movie never finds a groove, shifting gears from darkly humorous murders to trauma over Becket losing his mother to the romance that blossoms as much as Becket’s career. The climax comes off as nearly inexplicable, with Julia framed as a blackmailing seductress and Whitelaw hunting Becket with a rifle inside his mansion. For as much as Beckett narrates this story by trying to stress the tragedy of it all, he sure does get lost in the details, and not always the ones that matter when it comes to finding the funny.

While How to Make a Killing may divulge plans to eliminate the elite, there isn’t much of an exit plan. As the film wraps up Beckett’s story on some dark notes, there’s an unresolved notion with Beckett’s mother’s dying words about finding happiness. The cynical resolve implies little more than that murder is hard, and that trying to make it funny is even harder than you think.

Not available on any streaming platforms.

Source: