TechRadar Verdict
How to Make a Killing has all the ingredients for a great A24 film, but even an all-star cast isn’t enough to make it very interesting.
Benefits
- +
The casting is awesome, there’s no denying it
- +
Margaret Qualley puts in another strong performance
- +
Some really funny moments
Disadvantages
- –
It’s a bland remake of Kind Hearts and Coronets and offers nothing new
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The pacing is not good and it seems longer than it actually is
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Glen Powell’s weakest performance
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The cinematography pales in comparison to the A24’s other greats
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How to make a killing was one of my most anticipated new films of 2026. Unfortunately, I felt let down by A24’s latest venture, which doesn’t hold up against a catalog of greats.
Remakes are risky enough as it is, but Kind hearts and crowns is a particularly difficult act to follow. The iconic ’40s film brought something new to the table, with Alec Guinness mostly stealing the show playing eight members of one wealthy family.
How to Make a Murder | Official HD Trailer | A24 – YouTube 
Look on it
Considering this is a movie about a man who murders his wealthy family in revenge, it’s disappointing that it’s as boring as it is. Becket’s mother was exiled after becoming pregnant as a teenager, and on her deathbed she told young Becket that he should fight for the life he “deserves” to have. He do, but it’s not that exciting to watch.
There are, however, some positives in this film. Margaret Qualley always delivers a great performance, no matter her role. She blew me away as Sue in The bottomwhich I called the best body horror of 2024.
She’s also fun to watch here, as Julia Steinway, Becket’s childhood friend and crush, whose heart he hopes to win. The scenes involving them are perhaps my favorite part of the film, and I liked some of the humor, but ultimately it’s a disappointment for A24, a studio I usually have a lot of love for.
If you’re craving a run-of-the-mill dark comedy with a few laughs and some notable names, you might want to see it now that it’s hitting theaters, or maybe wait and see if it comes to one of the better streaming services.
Unfortunately, this is one of those forgettable films that you’ll probably only watch once. But maybe it will do its job in entertaining you for a few hours.
How to make a killing is now in theaters worldwide.
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Senior Entertainment Editor
Lucy is a long-time film and television fan and an approved reviewer on Rotten Tomatoes. She has written several reviews in her time, starting with a small self-run blog called Lucy Goes to Hollywood before moving on to larger websites such as What’s on TV and What to Watch, with TechRadar being her most recent venture. Her interests lie primarily in horror and thriller, loving nothing more than a scary story that makes her think moments after the credits roll. Many of these scary stories can be found on the streaming services she covers regularly.
When she’s not scaring herself with the different shows and movies she watches, she likes to relax by playing video games on easy mode and has no shame in admitting that she’s bad at it. She also quotes The Simpsons religiously and sports a Blinky the Fish tattoo, reinforcing her complete nerd stance.