The Coen Brothers made one massive misstep in their career: remaking the Ealing comedy The Ladykillers. Trying to capture the warmth and the darkness of the classic 1952 movie was impossible, even for experienced filmmakers. Which is why going into How To Make a Killing was done with trepidation, because even though this is not a remake, it is inspired by another great movie, Kind Hearts and Coronets, which had Alec Guinness playing seven members of the same family. Unlike the Coens’ movie, if you haven’t seen the original, you probably won’t notice, as this is modernised and the family is played by several actors, and unlike The Ladykillers, this is mildly entertaining, thanks to a charismatic lead.

Becket Redfellow sits in jail, waiting to be executed and telling his story to a priest of how he ended up in this situation. The son of a woman disowned by her rich father, Becket is at the end of a long line of relatives before he can inherit the family fortune. Knowing it would be almost impossible to see any of that money, Becket decides to move things on by killing his cousins one by one, but can he do it and get away with it? Even if he is as careful as possible.

Written and directed by John Patton Ford, whose previous film was the underrated Emily the Criminal starring Aubrey Plaza, this is a much smoother and controlled affair than his last film, which looked and felt edgy. For this to work, Ford needed to make the central character sympathetic; otherwise, the audience wouldn’t be on the serial killer’s side. It was also important for the deaths not to be brutal or violent; instead, they play lighter than most murder movies.

What we get is a handsome-looking film that never crosses the line of horror, but is dark without getting too dark. Add to that, he makes Becket face moral dilemmas, for example, falling for one of his victims’ girlfriends. Thrown into the pot is a childhood crush, whom he still has feelings for, even though she has warning signs all over the place to stay away. It does take the film into interesting directions.

Yet with all these things on show, it somehow manages to be less gripping, and although it has the air of something comic, it never is that funny. As the story unfolds, with Becket being taken under the wing of his uncle, who offers him a high-powered position in the money world, you would think that Becket would stop with his plot to kill the whole of the Redfellows, even if some of them seem fairly decent people. While it does entertain, it fails to rise above being slightly enjoyable.

Thankfully, Ford gives the lead to Glen Powell, who does manage to make Becket more likeable than he has any right to be. With his dimpled smile, Powell, fresh off The Running Man, shows just how at ease he is as a leading man and how you could forgive him for murder. Margaret Qualley, who was so good in The Substance, gives playing a femme fatale a go as Julia, the childhood crush who has turned into something much darker, and she manages to pull it off. Legend Ed Harris has a brief role as the head of the family and is as nasty as they come, a role he can play with his eyes closed and hands behind his back.

How To Make a Killing is an enjoyable romp that is perfectly fine for its running time, but it isn’t strong enough to be memorable and will probably be forgotten by midyear. Still, if you want to see how you can use a classic story in modern times without having you scream that it isn’t as good as the original, then this works.

3 out of 5

Director: John Patton Ford

Starring: Glen Powell, Margaret Qualley, Jessica Henwick, Adrian Lukas, Ed Harris, Bill Camp, Zack Woods, Topher Grace, Nell Williams, Raff Law

Written by: John Patton Ford

Running Time: 105 mins

Cert: 15

Release date: 12th March 2026