How to Make a Killing – 3 stars out of 4
I’m starting to feel a little preoccupied with last year’s “Marty Supreme.” Comparing it to “Rental Family” helped me understand why Hikari’s heartwarming story of redemption was my favorite movie of 2025, and now “Marty Supreme” is helping me articulate why I enjoyed the new release from director John Patton Ford, “How to Make a Killing.”
The weird thing is that both comparisons have to acknowledge some effective acting from Timothee Chalamet; his insufferable turn as the titular Marty is one of the big reasons I enjoyed Brendan Frasier’s character arc, and now it is helping me sympathize with Glen Powell’s turn as another villainous protagonist in “Killing.”
The premise sets the stage for a dark comedy: “Killing” is the story of an orphaned heir who decides the best way to secure his inherited fortune is to kill off all the family members in line in front of him. Powell plays Becket Redfellow, one of a handful of potential heirs to the vast Redfellow family fortune. The trouble is that Becket was born out of wedlock, and he and his mother were exiled from the family shortly after his conception.
So Becket has to make his way without the benefit of nepotism or the safety net of a trust fund, but his mother never lets him forget that he deserves a cut of what he was unfairly denied. Sadly, his respectable progress in spite of his circumstances is always overshadowed by the specter of what could have been, and so Becket eventually decides to go after the family fortune by eliminating all seven of the potential heirs in line ahead of him.
Much of the film, then, follows Becket on his macabre comic quest as he infiltrates and eliminates the lives of the jet-setters and other eccentrics who are largely unaware of his existence. Along the way, he develops a promising sincere relationship with an aspiring literature teacher named Ruth (Jessica Henwick) and a more suspect relationship with Julia (Margaret Qualley), a childhood friend who may or may not understand what Becket is up to.
The whole thing is framed by a conversation between Becket–now incarcerated on Death Row–and the priest who has come to give him his last rites. So we know where things are going–generally–and “Killing’s” suspense is built on the combination of figuring out what got him there, and whether his sentence will be carried out.
Like Marty, Becket is a villain, but while “Marty Supreme” director Josh Safdie seems to ask us to admire his creation, the tone in “Killing” implies Ford knows he isn’t fooling anyone. Both films take aim at “old wealth” and the injustices of unprincipled capitalism, but again, where Chalamet’s character is insufferable and arrogant, Powell’s protagonist is easier to accept, if not exactly cheer for. “Marty Supreme” is packed with people who never seem to get what’s coming to them, where “How to Make a Killing” feels more like a version of “Ocean’s Eleven” where the cast mostly gets what they deserve. Mostly.
Aside from tone, character arcs and karma, “Killing” benefits from some strong performances, solid writing, and some well-placed dark humor that helps keep the plot moving. Coming out so early in the year, it will be interesting to see how much I remember about the film by December’s ballot crunch. Right now I could see this movie growing on me or settling into the crowd.
“How to Make a Killing” is rated R for scattered profanity and (mostly comic) violence.