'How to Make a Killing' (2026)

Cast aside even before he is born, ‘How to Make a Killing’ follows Becket Redfellow (Glen Powell) as he tries to reposition himself in life. Working his way up from shop assistant, Becket rediscovers his family roots and tries to reintegrate into the ultra-rich Redfellow family. By pruning the family tree, Becket aims at becoming next in line to the family fortune.

Narrated throughout by Powell, we find him on death row as he retells his incredible story to a priest. With Becket’s mother Mary having been exiled from the wealthy Redfellow family by choosing to keep a teenage pregnancy, Becket is raised by the single mother. Poor, but trying to provide the best for him, Mary struggles to make ends meet, but educates and raises Becket, showing him what the finer things in life look like and also letting him know of their family lineage. Struck by a terminal disease, Mary urges Becket to strive for the life he ‘deserves.’

A now adult Becket working for a tailor encounters Julia (Margaret Qualley), a childhood friend of much higher standing. The recently engaged Julia, aware of Becket’s family history, urges him to call her when he’s closer to his birthright. Encouraged by this and by being demoted at his job, Becket begins to seek out his distant relations and begins to eliminate those standing in his way and the tremendous wealth accumulated by the Redfellow family.

Killing cousin Taylor (Raff Law), he manages to secure a financial investment job with Taylor’s father Warren (Bill Camp). Quickly moving up the ladder and taking out another cousin, Becket meets Ruth (Jessica Henwick), one of his victims’ girlfriends. Earning enough and moving in with Ruth, the two discuss the future, with Becket highlighting his goal of securing the fortune, contrasted by Ruth’s want to live a simple yet fulfilling life through her teaching vocation.

Now fully committed, Becket takes out a number of Redfellows and Warren suffers a heart attack, causing him to reassess the significance of what he is pursuing and why. Later deciding to forgo his own engagement party to accept an invitation from the head of the family Whitelaw (Ed Harris), Becket heads to his grandfather to seek answers about his mother’s exile and his standing. Resulting in a showdown between the two, Becket kills Whitelaw in self-defence and ascends to the top of the chain.

Solidifying his position, Becket is inducted as the heir to the family fortune but is soon taken in by the FBI in relation to a murder he did not commit, that of Lyle (James Frecheville), Julia’s husband. Having been framed by Julia, Becket narrowly escapes execution as Lyle’s suicide note is found just before Becket’s sentence is carried out. Framed by Julia and then rescued by her after he signs his family fortune over to her, Becket parts ways with Ruth and chooses to go off with Julia.

Severely lacking a clear tone, ‘How to Make a Killing’ teeters between dark comedy and thriller, but fails to amuse as it does not deliver a heavy enough punch when attempting to satirise the ultra-rich. Without delivering anything truly blatant when commenting on the wealthy, the writing fails the story and manages to rouse little amusement as no punches are truly landed when attempting to mock the rich.

A pedestrian approach at best, the film dances around the philosophy of human nature, how we’re driven by greed. Even though Powell’s Becket is raised by a mother who tries to instil core values in the young boy, the constant sense of entitlement that the adult Becket conveys strikes as unlikeable and detestable. Striving for more, his attempts are not initially contemptible, yet by the end of the feature, having heard him say he deserves ‘his birthright’ so many times over would drive one to feel nothing for the character if not spite.

Delivering no other noteworthy characters, all players besides Powell fall short of recognition. Save for perhaps Henwick’s Ruth, who exhibits a clear moral code and unswayable conviction, all other characters deliver little besides one-dimensional caricatures that feel played out and have the aftertaste of a cheap, overused and entirely unoriginal joke.

Lacking in class, style and humour, the film delivers little in terms of the aforementioned and proves to be tedious if one expects razor sharp commentary on contemporary social struggles and wealth imbalance globally. Best avoided, a far more potent alternative would be to watch the initial Roy Horniman novel ‘Israel Rank: The Autobiography of a Criminal’ (1907) adaptation - ‘Kind Hearts and Coronets’ (1949) that appears to have held up very well and remains an outstanding film when alluding to social norms, expectations and class.

Score: 1/4