How to Make a Killing (2026)

Plot of How to Make a Killing. The older generation will be familiar with the plot of Kind Hearts and Coronets, which this outing follows fairly closely. Becket Redfellow is the result of a coupling between the daughter of the Redfellow billionaire dynasty and a passing musician. We learn his story which he tells to the priest who ministers to him in the hours before he is due to be executed. After losing his job in an upmarket gents outfitters he decides to exterminate members of the Redfellow clan so that he will inherit the family wealth. After successfully disposing of two of his relatives, and becoming the lover of the former girlfriend of one of them, he comes across his uncle, Warren, who gives him a job in the family brokerage. Now a successful broker he is approached by a former friend, Julia Steinway, for a loan to get her husband Lyle out of trouble. Becket refuses, but sets Julia on a path of revenge which, despite the fact that he is a murderer, is what has resulted in his conviction.

Content: No sex or nudity, although sex obviously implied and Qualley’s legs often on display. Some drinking but no-one is drunk. There are scenes of the hero, if that is what he is, talking to the priest, which results in a lot of voice over, but it seems to fit ok. His childhood features, letting us know how his mother brought him up as a toff. His various killings, there are half a dozen of them, are shown as well as his meetings with the FBI. They don’t seem to suspect him. His uncle Warren who has been good to him dies of natural causes, and he meets his match when his grandfather Whitelaw invites him to dinner, but his skills in archery come in useful. He variously meets with this friend from his childhood, Julia, who it turns out holds the means of determining whether he will live or die.  

A View: Although released in America on 20 February this film has only just made it to Spain and my wife and I saw it in a very small screen, together with half a dozen others, in Madrid on 15 May. It has had a bit of a drubbing from the critics, mainly because it lacks subtlety or complexity. If there is a bit of tension it should be because the man is about to be executed, but he seems relaxed, and in time we find out why. Can it be a comedy, since people are killed in dramatic fashion? This is one of its problems. I know it’s damning it with faint praise, but I have seen a lot worse.

Fun Fact: Despite it’s mainly New England setting, it was shot in South Africa.