DIRECTOR
Kirill Sokolov
Why Don’t You Just Die! (Papa, sdokhni)

STARS
Zazie Beetz, Myha’la, Patricia Arquette, Heather Graham and Paterson Joseph

A movie as unapologetically over-the-top in its bloodiness and battle sequences as blunt its title is, They Will Kill You wastes little time making its intentions apparent.

Ten years after fleeing from a hostile situation, a mysterious woman (Zazie Beetz) arranges employment at an uptown and upscale Manhattan high-rise hotel, The Virgil. The vibes at her new workplace and residence are immediately unsettling as the building manager, Lily (Patricia Arquette), suspiciously questions her and introduces her to some of the hotel’s esteemed guests and occupants. Even Lily’s husband, Ray (Paterson Joseph) exhibits concern for what their new guest has unwittingly got herself into by simply knocking at the front door. It takes no longer than her first night at The Virgil to encounter the horrors it harbours.

Led from the front by a fierce, fast and furious Zazie Beetz, They Will Kill You opts to unveil and unleash its brand of absurd and grotesque horror upon viewers before elaborating on parts of its background story that gives the film its weight. Without this, there is not much for it to stand on. While not every exaggerated aspect could work for me, it must be said that writer Alex Litvak and co-writer & director Kirill Sokolov have done a fine job at ensuring the screenplay and the film does not produce repetition in its numerous action sequences. It maintains the right tone and amount of energy throughout, never taking itself seriously but also supplies reason where it might matter to keep the whole shebang from becoming a complete feast of the utterly ridiculous. One opportunity to expand upon its reasonable amount of creativity it misses is to venture to more of the other several floors at the hotel. We get a glimpse of this during an impressive sequence in the film that showcases the unrestrained thought that is capable here. For a hotel with significant history, I would have loved for this to be written in similar fashion to what 2011 horror film The Cabin in the Woods exhibited during the infamous elevator sequence. Nevertheless, viewers won’t be forgetting Heather Graham’s eye sequence any time soon and the camerawork has plenty of pizzazz. 

Not a must watch but far from being disregarded or dismissed.

They Will Kill You is showing in selected cinemas across Australia from March 26th, 2026.

Moviedoc thanks Universal Pictures for the invitation to the screening of this film.

Review by Leigh for Moviedoc

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