Tom Felton is a beloved Harry Potter star, but he has been expanding his acting credits with several films in recent months. One of them is They Will Kill You.
An R-rated slasher, the movie hit theaters on Mar. 27, although it failed to make a splash. Even so, They Will Kill You has all the makings of a cult classic. Luckily, it can get more exposure as Warner Bros. officially confirmed They Will Kill You is heading to HBO Max on June 12.
What Happens in They Will Kill You?
They Will Kill You is a blood-soaked, high-octane horror-action-comedy in which Asia Reaves, an ex-convict who answers an ad to be a housekeeper, must survive the night at the Virgil, a demonic cult’s mysterious and twisted death-trap of a lair, before becoming their next offering in a uniquely brazen, big-screen battle of epic kills and wickedly dark humor.
The movie comes from Kirill Sokolov, from a script co-written with Alex Litvak. Deadpool 2‘s Zazie Beetz plays the lead character, Asia Reaves, and stars alongside Felton, Myha’la, Paterson Joseph, Heather Graham, and Patricia Arquette. It: Welcome to Derry creators Andy and Barbara Muschietti produced the film with Dan Kagan.
The movie is the perfect Ready or Not replacement, and the similarities didn’t help as They Will Kill You premiered just shortly after Ready or Not 2: Here I Come was released. So, They Will Kill You didn’t have too much success, grossing only $19 million on a $20 million budget.
It did prove there was an interest on digital, where it landed on Apr. 28, turning into an instant hit. It will get even more exposure once it finally premieres on streaming.
They Will Kill You Can Become a Cult Classic
The horror comedy didn’t particularly impress critics, but it scored enough positive reviews for a “fresh” badge, holding a 64% rating out of 169 reviews. Audiences gave it a 77% score.
In one review, FilmWeek’s Christy Lemire gave They Will Kill You a positive review, writing, “For me, it’s John Wick by way of Looney Tunes.” Tim Cogshell from the same outlet also praised the slasher, arguing, “This is just a bat crap crazy movie, and I deeply love it.”
Daily Record’s Ian Bunting shared a similar opinion, explaining, “Rarely has a film crammed in this many bloody kills and disappearing body parts, and Sokolov often does so in a cartoonish way that keeps things fun rather than off-puttingly gross.”
Bloody Good Horror’s Rachel Shatto argued, “This movie wears its influences on its sleeve: Tarantino, Rosemary’s Baby, ’70s blaxploitation, Raimi, even Society. Yet somehow it all fuses into an utterly insane cinematic stew that was the most fun I’ve had at the movies this year.”
Among the criticism, the reviews highlight that there is “too much excess” and that it “relies too heavily” on it, forgetting to explore its creative and original side.
They Will Kill You hits HBO Max on June 12.