They Will Kill You
Warner Bros. | Release Date: March 27, 2026 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
50
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 28 Critic Reviews
Positive:
8
Mixed:
18
Negative:
2

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
NMEVictoria LuxfordMar 28, 2026
They Will Kill You is a deeply unserious comedy horror that provides just enough plot to get it to the next bloodbath. It might not work for some but there’s something in the enthusiasm of all involved that is hard to resist as they craft a gleefully chaotic spectacle. Read full review
80
Little White LiesAnton BitelMar 26, 2026
In showing a working-class Black girl confront a classist, racist establishment, this is also of course a political film, offering an allegorical display of both the claustrophobic power structures in which we live and strive, and the possibility of smashing it to build something better. Read full review
80
IGNChase HutchinsonMar 24, 2026
They Will Kill You is a modern action gem with a knockout leading performance by Zazie Beetz, who more than cements her status as a star of the genre we ought to see more of. Read full review
80
TheWrapZachary LeeMar 24, 2026
At the cost of trying to deliver vibes, it may lose some of the thematic weight that usually accompanies these kill-the-rich stories, but what it lacks in depth it more than makes up for with a thrilling sense of carnage. It’s a raucous joyride unlike any other. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubJesse HassengerMar 26, 2026
After so many smirky bloodfests, They Will Kill You scarcely needs believable human relationships to earn some goodwill. All it really needs is Beetz convincingly going through hell. Read full review
65
SlashfilmBill BriaMar 26, 2026
Although much of the pleasures of They Will Kill You come with the caveat that the movie doesn't quite lead anywhere memorable, one aspect that is fully fantastic and very memorable is Zazie Beetz. Read full review
63
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliMar 27, 2026
This has "future cult film" written all over it. But, for those who are more concerned about the here and now, this is a film that delivers on its own peculiar brand of delights before wearing out its welcome. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneKatie WalshMar 26, 2026
They Will Kill You is both irreverent, and reverential to its references, and cartoonishly violent in increasingly surreal ways, but it also maintains the emotional core at the center, which is Asia’s blind big sister protectiveness over Maria, powered by the guilt she feels over not being there for her. It’s a simple, but primal character motivation that Beetz sells with a wild-eyed ferocity. Read full review
60
The IndependentClarisse LoughreyApr 2, 2026
The only problem with They Will Kill You is that it’s confused iconography with substance. It operates under the assumption that if it creates enough of a mystique around its protagonist – and there’s every trick in the book here, to the point it feels as if someone’s playing paddle ball with the camera – then everything else will fall neatly in line. Read full review
60
ColliderRoss BonaimeMar 27, 2026
They Will Kill You is an undeniably fun and berserk action film that relies on the style to make up for the lack of discernible substance. For the most part, They Will Kill You pulls this off, and it’s easy to get caught up in just how much this cranks itself to 11. Read full review
60
EmpireHelen O'HaraMar 27, 2026
Blood-drenched and gore-splattered, anchored by a hard-as-nails performance by Beetz, this is a thinly plotted but immensely fun horrorfest. Best watched with a strong stomach. Read full review
60
Screen RantAlex HarrisonMar 26, 2026
It sits somewhere at the intersection of Quentin Tarantino and Sam Raimi, though without the former's control of form and the latter's splatstick comedic timing, it can't quite live up to the potential of that mashup. Still, it's plenty of fun. Zazie Beetz is the ideal badass heroine to carry this movie, and there are more than enough moments of stylish violence (and violent style) to get the whole theater cackling. Read full review
60
Time OutPhil de SemlyenMar 25, 2026
An early twist means that the bloodletting develops a repetitive feel, and there are unfortunate parallels with the recent Ready or Not 2, but the wincing and guilty laughs never quite dry up. Cult status may await. Read full review
55
The Film VerdictAlonso DuraldeMar 26, 2026
The film’s best moments are an outlandish pleasure, far outshining the highlights of the similarly-plotted and mostly by-the-numbers sequel Ready or Not 2: Here I Come. But the latter at least maintains a consistent level of energy from start to finish. The initial dynamism on display in They Will Kill You contracts and collapses. Death be not dull. Read full review
50
The Travers TakePeter TraversMar 27, 2026
A zowie Zazie Beetz takes a fiery axe to anyone who messes with her sister, but we’ve seen it all before and better. Boring is too small a word to hold the heaps of tedium that come with relentless repetition of kill scenes where no one dies Read full review
50
Slant MagazineAnzhe ZhangMar 26, 2026
This is a film that’s content to imitate its influences rather than build an identity of its own. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleBob StraussMar 25, 2026
Sokolov has cited notable filmmakers like Sergio Leone, Park Chan-wook and Quentin Tarantino as influences, and their inspiration can be seen in the film’s tense standoffs, corridor fights and flashing swordplay, respectively. For all that and some original flourishes, though, this mainly feels like a Radio Silence rehash. Read full review
50
The PlaylistMonica CastilloMar 24, 2026
Its lack of visual cohesion and bizarre finale get in the way of enjoying the whirlwind of fists, bullets, fantastical fights, and a sword with katana-like powers of cutting bodies in half. No one can accuse this film of becoming boring, but its over-stuffed narrative never quite delivers on its promising start. Read full review
50
RogerEbert.comBrian TallericoMar 19, 2026
It’s a sporadically fun movie with obvious influences, but it also lacks in stakes and personality, getting repetitive long before it ends. Read full review
50
Next Best PictureGiovanni LagoMar 18, 2026
At least Sokolov gives Beetz a moment to shine and become the action hero she deserves, but the film’s more inventive set pieces, such as the air-duct crawl, don’t outweigh how underwhelming “They Will Kill You” is at the end of the day. Read full review
40
New York Magazine (Vulture)Alison WillmoreMar 27, 2026
For all its bloodshed, the movie’s not sharp enough to land a cutting blow — or even to break skin. Read full review
40
Wall Street JournalKyle SmithMar 26, 2026
An English-language debut by Russian director Kirill Sokolov, who also co-wrote its script, They Will Kill You is tongue-in-cheek but not witty, reveling in its excesses without bringing anything fresh to the party. Read full review
40
Rolling StoneDavid FearMar 26, 2026
It’s just that the delivery system designed to get you from one showstopping mano a mano to the next begins to feel so derivative that not even the pulp pleasures of Beetz kicking mondo ass can keep this from feeling like a reheated fast-food binge. Read full review
40
The New York TimesBen KenigsbergMar 26, 2026
A case in which a production designer and prosthetics team showed up for work but the screenwriters might as well have crowdsourced their ideas from fanboys. Read full review
40
The GuardianCharles BramescoMar 26, 2026
Tonally pitched between a bloodbath and bath time, a boyish strain of immaturity is the dominant creative force for Sokolov, at times amusingly but more often in commonplace, enervating ways. Read full review
40
VarietySiddhant AdlakhaMar 18, 2026
The twists of its premise soon end up souring it conceptually, resulting in rapidly-diminishing returns, with derivative formal flourishes that largely recall other, better films. It is, by the time its credits roll, completely exhausting. Read full review
38
The Associated PressMark KennedyMar 25, 2026
They Will Kill You may remind you of the marriage between madcap, social satire and bloody mayhem from “Ready or Not” but it’s a warning of how hard that combo is to get correctly. Read full review
30
StatusBrian LowryMar 27, 2026
An absurdly stylized action-horror-comedy mashup that somehow makes a satanic cult, wanton violence, and buckets of blood boring. Read full review
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