Review: ‘How to Make a Killing’ takes a nibble out of the rich
2026 / Dir. John Patton Ford
Rating: 3/5
Watch if you like: Glen Powell playing a watered-down Patrick Bateman, taking revenge against the rich people who wronged you, and having your life ruined by Margaret Qualley.
John Patton Ford’s follow-up to Emily the Criminal, How to Make a Killing is an enjoyable, often funny flick riding the current wave of late-stage capitalism/eat-the-rich cinema. Don’t expect any real social commentary or airtight logic, but a solid cast of cameos and tight pace make for a fun watch, even if it could have used a bit more bite.
Glen Powell stars as Becket Redfellow, the son of an excommunicated member of an ultra-rich family who, due to an irrevocable trust, is still distantly in line for billions. In what ends up feeling like a sanitized, American version of No Other Choice, Becket decides to start knocking off his horrible cousins and starts climbing the financial ladder, with each killing seemingly making his life better.
A lot of the fun of How to Make a Killing comes from its parade of terrible rich people whom Becket quickly bumps off before moving to the next one. Zach Woods (The Office, Silicon Valley) is one of the highlights as a phony nepo baby “artist” who takes “provocative” photos of homeless people. Likewise is Topher Grace, who unfortunately has little screentime but makes an impression as a corrupt, ultra-paranoid megachurch pastor with a 2010s Justin Bieber haircut who hangs out with dictators and El Chapo. The film’s rapid pace helps gloss over many of its logic issues (for one: how does a guy who was a suit salesman concoct these elaborate murders?) while still making you wonder what a miniseries with more time spent with these ridiculous characters could have looked like.
Much of your enjoyment of How to Make a Killing will come down to how you feel about Glen Powell. His character is just the full-on Powell screen personality, with a constant smirk and little attempt to sell the character arc that takes him from a poor New Jersey kid to a social-climbing serial killer. An earlier version of How to Make a Killing was originally set to star Shia LaBeouf, and while it’s easy to assume why that version didn’t get made, what exists today could have used a bit more edge, biting satire, or an actor able to be a bit more unhinged. Margaret Qualley, who is somehow both pivotal and underused here as Becket’s agent-of-chaos childhood friend, could really have fit that bill if her and Powell’s parts were gender swapped.
Still, that’s not to say this isn’t quite entertaining, thanks to its family of goofy, awful rich people (I don’t want to spoil how the family patriarch, played by Ed Harris, enters the picture late in the film, but it’s a literal blast). In the age of the Epstein ruling class and tech billionaires out to replace the masses with AI, however, a dramedy about taking revenge against a mostly terribly rich family can only feel like an appetizer and not a whole meal.