Kill List movie

A domestic drama/hitman movie that's infinitely more disturbing than the sum of its parts, Kill List is a major breakthrough for writer/director Ben Wheatley, whose assured and painstaking handling of this difficult material makes for an unforgettable viewing experience. Neil Maskell stars as a former soldier whose homicidal impulses his mysterious employers make haste to exploit. Although its subject matter and intensity might discourage mainstream success, Kill List should enjoy a healthy run on the independent circuit and on VOD while positioning Wheatley as a viable candidate for more commercial fare.

Maskell plays Jay, a doting but hen-pecked husband who frets over finances in between shouting matches with his wife Shel (MyAnna Buring). After a visit from longtime friend Gal (Michael Smiley), Jay agrees to join him as a hired gun, but Jay's moral outrage gets the better of him when he learns his targets traffic in pornography and snuff films. When Shel sees the toll the job exerts on Jay she encourages the men to quit, but he and Gal soon discover that failing to complete their contract may have more dangerous repercussions than following through ever could.

There's already been some online chatter about how Kill List, which was the first film picked up for distribution through SXSW's SX Fantastic sidebar, makes a lot of hard turns between its beginning and its end. But Wheatley's script cues us to where the story is going and everything, from the visuals to the characterizations, feeds into its unwavering momentum. Wheatley doesn't reveal motivations in the film, and so creates suspense and allows the audience to answer questions about the nature (ordinary or occult?) of the film's conflicts.

The film's onscreen violence is more emotional than physical, though Wheatley depicts the torture and murder of one victim with enough graphic detail to disturb even the least sensitive viewer. But his interest is not in glorifying the characters' behavior, rather in forcing the audience to accept the terms of their own contract with the film—in this case, to confront the audience with the full capabilities of a character who is equal parts cold-blooded murderer, family man and best friend.

Ultimately, Wheatley's film makes for often-difficult viewing, thanks not only to its thorough conception but also to a technical execution that utilizes every tool to produce intense and unsettling reactions. Hyperbole aside, it's the scariest hit man movie I've ever seen, and unlike similar films, Kill List is not only startling to sit through, but sticks with you afterward.

Distributor: IFC Films
Cast: Neil Maskell, MyAnna Buring, Harry Simpson, Michael S. Mley, Emma Fryer, Struan Rodger and Esme Foller
Director: Ben Wheatley
Screenwriter: Ben Wheatley and Amy Jump
Producers: Claire Jones and Andrew Starke
Genre: Horror
Rating: Unset
Running time: 90 min.
Release date: Unset