How to Make a Killing, starring Glen Powell and Margaret Qualley, is a slick but entirely redundant remake of the 1949 Ealing comedy Kind Hearts and Coronets. Directed by John Patton Ford (Emily the Criminal) and released by A24, the film follows Becket, a young man whose mother was cast out by her wealthy family. After her death, he embarks on a murderous plan to claim his inheritance by eliminating the relatives ahead of him in the line of succession.
The original film was a black-hearted masterpiece, its protagonist descending from sympathy to monstrosity with gleeful malice. This update smooths the edges, making victims more obviously deserving and stripping away the sour nastiness that made the original so memorable. Ford’s direction is stylish but tepid, lacking any real spark or originality. The film is less a fresh take than a carbon copy, dragged into the present day with modern tweaks that fail to justify its existence.
Powell, as Becket, lacks the requisite darkness, playing the character like a Disney-fied Patrick Bateman – smooth but not slippery, his snark edging towards Ryan Reynolds territory. Qualley, as his childhood friend turned foe, has more bite, but the chemistry is absent, and the stakes feel low. Jessica Henwick appears as an increasingly suspicious hipster, but the supporting cast cannot compensate for the film’s fundamental flaw: it asks us to side with a killer who is too obviously sympathetic, robbing the story of any moral complexity.
The original’s famous gambit of Alec Guinness playing all eight victims is not repeated; instead, actors including Topher Grace and Ed Harris take on the roles. But even scene-devouring performances cannot save a film that feels like a wet match. How to Make a Killing may have looked good on paper – IP, Black List script, trendy stars – but on screen, it is a pointless exercise that only highlights the perfection of the original.
