Like the craziest stories, the wild premise for the new horror action comedy They Will Kill You comes from the writer-director’s real life.
Considering the film is set in a creepy art deco hotel in New York that turns out to be the base of a bloodthirsty satanic cult intent on making its heroine and her new maid (Zazie Beetz) their next human sacrifice, that’s not the expected answer.
‘About 10 years ago, my wife and I rented an apartment in a large 16-story building, and after a week of living there, we understood that we were the only people under 65 – somehow everyone else was mostly lonely, old women,’ filmmaker Kirill Sokolov told Metro.
But that’s when things start to get weird, with what the Russian-born director discovers when starting renovations in his kitchen, eerily affecting the invasion Asia (Beetz) faces at her Virgil abode on her first night, as glimpsed in the film’s trailer.
‘I found a big hole behind the kitchen cupboard which led into my neighbour’s apartment. And we started [to think] like, okay, this is a weird place. We had a joke that we lived in the middle of a cult, and one day we [will] wake up and them [will be] standing around our bed!’
Once again, this ‘cult’ joke becomes a very serious part of the film, and Sokolov adds: ‘Later, I found out that this whole building belonged to one community – they all worked in one factory, and the government gave them apartments in one building, so that’s why they all knew each other and were the same age.’
But it wasn’t until she re-watched Rosemary’s Baby three years ago, a classic horror film that sets its protagonist’s foreboding Gothic apartment against the same murderous backdrop as her nefarious neighbors, that she thought about doing anything with her real-life experiences.
‘I was like, wait a minute, I know this type of building! I know this neighborhood! And that gave rise to the idea that, oh my God, this is a movie!’
And the film’s cult counts manager Patricia Arquette and guests Tom Felton and Heather Graham among its members, along with conflicted staffer Ray (Paterson Joseph).
They Will Kill You, which Sokolov wrote with friend Alex Litvak, is his first English-language feature, but he previously made a splash with the Russian dark comedy thriller Why Don’t You Just Die! (2018) and Without Looking Back (2021).
He enjoys producing ‘genre and tonal mixes and mash-ups’ with his films, drawing on past classics from different eras and countries; for They Will Kill You, the influence is clearly visible on Sergio Leone’s spaghetti western, as well as Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill thanks to Aisa’s ‘modern samurai’ skills.
‘I enjoy this fun game, because the film can be a puzzle for the audience, and they can recognize something they like,’ explains Sokolov.
The film begins with a more naturalistic brawl, without music, where heavy breathing and bodies are heard falling before the film’s visual style and language gets ‘bigger and crazier’.
But with Asia, the first time we see her defending herself and attacking, showing off her sword skills, Sokolov pushes the boundaries of realism.
‘Right away, the first time he cuts someone up, we see old school samurai blood splatters hitting the ceiling and a sort of cartoon effect. And then we go further, and it turns into [something] more epic and bigger – almost Viking-like. And then as the story progresses, we understand that we are in a completely twisted reality. Basically, we’re getting into anime territory.’
There’s nothing wrong when it comes to gore and excessive violence – but for anyone worried about scares or nausea, don’t worry as They Will Kill You aims to entertain ‘not disturb or traumatize’.
‘We strive to make practical prosthetics and real blood, [so] it looks sillier, charming, and very safe. I’m not a big fan of torture porn. There was never a goal to make the audience feel irritated, everything had to be at a leisurely pace,” said Sokolov, revealing that one of the scenes that was cut was a kitchen fight in which Asia was defeated because it occurred “more grounded and smaller moments could have been more disturbing.”
For Sokolov, the whole picture could fall apart if he didn’t have the right lead actor, but as a fan of Beetz from the TV show Atlanta, he knew that Beetz could excel at switching between humor and being ‘touching and vulnerable, so he could get the audience behind him’.
The film also demanded a lot from his physique – co-star Joseph described him as being made of ‘rubber and steel’.
‘It’s an old school movie or a John Wick type of movie where we want to see things wide, we want to see the cast doing fights, we don’t want to hide everything behind cuts. So this is a big challenge,’ Sokolov said.
The rest of the cast supporting Beetz – including Industry star Myha’la – is eclectic, with a mix of American, British and international talent, which the director says was intentional with the cult members.
‘This was done deliberately so that people come from different places and countries, because they are united by ideology, not cultural background.’
He also called the film’s cast a ‘dream doc’, which he created ‘just based on me as a film fan, what I envisioned when I wrote the script, which I was so excited to see on screen’.
‘And then Tom said yes, and Heather said yes, and Patricia said yes, and Paterson, and suddenly my dream cast actually turned into a real cast. And the studio called me and said, “Kirill, this never happened.” This is so strange!’
But the evidence is clear for them as an ensemble, with Sokolov particularly pleased at how well they combine – ‘you feel the dynamic between them and the chemistry’.
As a film inspired by life – and his own imagination – there are many scenes that Sokolov was happy to realize and bring to the screen. Of course, They Will Kill You’s trademark ‘big, bright and awesome’ fight scenes are among them.
But there’s also a final scene with the head of the cult in Virgil (no spoilers here).
‘It’s something I’ve never seen on film, it’s something very strange and bizarre, and I’m so happy we pulled it off and made it happen.’
But there are also small, unexpected moments that serve as reminders of filmmaking dreams come true.
‘The first opening fight in the hotel room, where there’s a mattress explosion, and then a showdown between Zazie and Heather with feathers falling, and we have strong backlighting and these two beautiful women standing in front of each other. I remember watching the screening, and I got goosebumps at the time, and I remember my thoughts [were] “Oh my God, I think I’ve dreamed of making this movie my whole life.” It was only one shot, but everything I loved about the film came together in this one shot.’
They Will Kill You is in theaters now.
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