THEY WILL KILL YOU (4K UHD Blu-ray Review)
Plenty of movies can deliver a few laughs or a few good scares, but getting both to work together is a lot harder than it looks. They Will Kill You doesn’t waste much time worrying about that. It throws everything at the screen, from martial arts, supernatural horror, gallons of blood, and a warped sense of humor, and mostly keeps the whole thing from collapsing under its own weight.
Film ★★★☆☆
Asia (Zazie Beetz), takes a housekeeping job inside an exclusive Manhattan apartment building called The Virgil. She’s not there because she needs the work. She’s there looking for her younger sister Maria (Myha’la), who disappeared years earlier.
Unbeknownst to Asia, The Virgil turns out to be far more dangerous than it first appears, and before long Asia is fighting for her life inside a building that seems determined to make sure nobody leaves.
Once everything goes off the rails, director Kirill Sokolov wastes very little time slowing things down. The action comes fast and often, but most impressive is how easy it is to actually follow. Instead of burying every punch behind shaky cameras and rapid-fire editing, Sokolov lets the choreography breathe. You can see the stunt work, appreciate how the fights are put together, and enjoy the wonderfully excessive practical effects.
The movie sprays blood with the enthusiasm of an old-school splatter film, and it’s so exaggerated that it becomes funny. There’s a sequence involving a mattress during one fight that perfectly captures the film’s personality (you’ll know it when you see it).
That nonstop energy does come with a downside. Eventually the movie has to explain why all this insanity is happening, and that’s where things lose a little momentum. The mythology surrounding The Virgil is pretty interesting, with hints of something bigger involving wealth, power, and old supernatural bargains, but the script never seems interested in digging much deeper. Every time it starts opening another door, it quickly shuts it again so it can get back to another fight. I kept wishing it would spend another ten minutes exploring this world because there was clearly more there than the movie wanted to stop and examine.
Beetz ends up carrying the entire film on her shoulders, and thankfully she’s more than capable of it. Asia feels tough because life has forced her to be and Beetz gives the character enough vulnerability to make you care whether she succeeds.
Lilith (Patricia Arquette) brings the right amount of theatrical energy as the building’s mysterious overseer, looking like she’s having an absolute blast every time she walks on screen. Sharon (Heather Graham) and Kevin (Tom Felton) are entertaining enough, but both actors deserved more to do. They’re memorable because of who’s playing them, not because the script gives them particularly rich material.
You’re probably going to recognize a lot of the movie’s influences. It wears them pretty openly. There are shades of revenge thrillers, supernatural horror, siege movies, and more than a little “eat-the-rich” satire mixed into the formula. None of that really bothered me because Sokolov isn’t pretending he’s reinventing the genre. He’s making a fast, unapologetically outrageous midnight movie. Once I stopped trying to compare it to everything that came before it, I found myself enjoying its confidence.
The film knows it’s absurd, and instead of apologizing for that, it doubles down.
They Will Kill You isn’t flawless. The middle section drags a bit, the supporting cast is underused, and the story never quite lives up to the potential of its setup. Even so, I had a hard time not having fun with it. The action is inventive, the practical gore is fantastic, and Zazie Beetz gives the movie a center strong enough to hold together all the chaos swirling around her.
Video ★★★★☆
Encoding: HEVC / H.265
Resolution: Native 4K (2160p)
HDR: Dolby Vision, HDR10
Aspect Ratio: 2.20:1
Clarity/Detail: Captured with the Arri Alexa 35 and completed from a native 4K finish, They Will Kill You delivers a refined image that rewards large-screen viewing. Close-ups reveal impressive facial detail, costume textures, and the film’s practical gore effects with convincing realism, while medium shots remain consistently crisp. A handful of expansive shots soften slightly, but they never detract from what is otherwise an exceptionally clean presentation.
Depth: The towering maze-like corridors of The Virgil benefit from excellent dimensionality, giving the building a genuine sense of scale despite the story’s intentionally confined setting. Background objects retain definition instead of melting into darkness, creating convincing separation between characters and their surroundings. The cinematography makes the interior spaces feel layered rather than flat, adding tension to every hallway and stairwell encounter.
Black Levels: This presentation spends much of its runtime in extremely low-light environments, making shadow performance critical, and the disc handles those challenges with confidence. Dark scenes maintain solid gradation without obvious crushing, allowing architectural details, clothing textures, and movement within the shadows to remain visible. Dolby Vision also strengthens contrast during the film’s more chaotic sequences, giving brighter light sources greater intensity without overwhelming surrounding detail.
Color Reproduction: The visual palette intentionally favors restrained, desaturated tones that reinforce the oppressive atmosphere rather than chasing eye-catching vibrancy. Earthy neutrals, deep charcoal blacks, and cool blue hues dominate the image, while bursts of crimson become dramatically more striking whenever violence erupts. HDR enhances those isolated moments of color without altering the film’s deliberately bleak photographic style, creating impactful contrast.
Flesh Tones: Complexion remains convincing throughout despite the demanding lighting conditions that dominate the film. Faces retain natural variation under dim practical lighting, and the increasing layers of grime, sweat, and blood never produce an artificial or waxy appearance.
Noise/Artifacts: Compression issues are largely absent during normal viewing, with no meaningful banding, macroblocking, shimmering, or edge enhancement drawing attention away from the presentation.
Audio ★★★★☆
Audio Format(s): English: Dolby Atmos
Audio descriptive
Subtitles: English SDH, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Spanish
Dynamics: This Dolby Atmos mix swings effortlessly between tense silence and explosive bursts of violence. Quiet moments inside the aging apartment building slowly build unease before the soundtrack erupts with crushing impacts, gunfire, shattered glass, and brutal melee encounters that fill the room with remarkable energy. Despite its relentless intensity, the presentation never loses composure, maintaining excellent clarity even during the film’s busiest action scenes.
Height: Owners of an Atmos setup will appreciate how naturally the overhead speakers contribute to the experience. Rain pours convincingly from above, old pipes groan overhead, footsteps travel across upper floors, and supernatural chants seem to hover over the listening position, creating a convincing sense of vertical space. Rather than feeling gimmicky, the height layer constantly reinforces the oppressive atmosphere inside The Virgil while adding excitement during the film’s larger supernatural set pieces. You’ll hear the pig head flying all over the room during the climax.
Low Frequency Extension: Bass response is deep, authoritative, and frequently room-shaking. Every heavy blow, collapsing structure, demonic encounter, and musical cue is supported by substantial low-frequency output that gives the soundtrack real physical impact without becoming bloated or overwhelming the rest of the mix.
Surround Sound Presentation: The rear channels remain active throughout nearly the entire presentation, surrounding the listener with a constant stream of environmental detail and directional effects. Flying debris, ricocheting weapons, whispered voices, echoing hallways, rainfall, and frantic movement sweep seamlessly around the room, producing a convincing 360-degree sound field that places you directly inside the building alongside the characters. Again, the third act comes alive with even greater intensity, delivering one of the disc’s most immersive demonstrations.
Dialogue Reproduction: Even when the soundtrack reaches maximum intensity, dialogue remains firmly anchored and intelligible.
Extras ★★☆☆☆
The features are a bit disappointing. They give a cool look into aspects of the production, but I was hoping for a little bit more. They all lean more into fluff, unfortunately.
- Director’s Log: The Making of They Will Kill You
- A documentary-style feature following director and the cast throughout the production process. From creative meetings with executive producers to deep dives with the VFX and prosthetics teams, this piece offers an intimate look at the creative and technical forces behind the film.
- Developing the Virgil Featurette
- A look into the film’s most iconic location: The Virgil, a nine-floor art deco building inspired by Dante’s Inferno. This piece showcases the building’s intricate design, surreal art direction, and how each floor was constructed to reflect a different level of psychological descent.
- Asia Reaves’ Attacks Featurette
- This action-packed piece breaks down all the major fight scenes in the film, complete with stunts, spoilers, and cinematic chaos.
- Crafting Carnage Featurette
- Unravel how the film’s most intense moments were brought to life using hands-on techniques, from puppets and prosthetics to practical effects and choreographed gags.
Summary ★★★★☆
They Will Kill You starts as a straightforward mystery before quickly turning into a wildly violent blend of horror, action, and dark comedy. Zazie Beetz anchors the chaos with a charismatic lead performance, while the film embraces practical effects, outrageous set pieces, and a knowingly over-the-top sense of fun. The story isn’t especially deep, but its relentless energy and gleeful bloodshed make for an entertaining ride if that’s what you’re looking for. Warner Bros.’ 4K UHD release delivers high-quality picture and immersive Dolby Atmos audio, backed by an okay selection of bonus features.
