How To Make A Killing (2026) is written & directed by John Patton Ford. It stars Glen Powell, Margaret Qualley, Jessica Henwick, Adrian Lukis, Ed Harris, Bill Camp, Raff Law, James Frecheville, Zach Woods, Topher Grace, Susan Dandford, Bianca Amato, Alexander Hanson, and Nell Williams. The film follows Beckett Redfellow (Powell), a would-be billionaire forced to live a blue-collar life after his mother (Williams) is disowned by their uber-wealthy family. Although last in a long line of succession, Beckett enacts a desperate plan to murder each member of his extended family until he’s the only one who remains. 

Glen Powell brings his typical charm, but often feels miscast as Beckett. I never believed that such a calm, kind, charming, and collected character would choose to pursue a plan so morbid and risky. I would’ve believed the character if he ever had some kind of emotional response to murdering so many people, but he more or less just shrugs his shoulders, drops a sarcastic one-liner, and then moves on. He’ll be warmly human in one scene, but then a remorseless, cold-blooded killer in the next. There’s nothing that connects or transitions the two behaviors, such as his coldness seeping into his everyday life or his humanity causing him to doubt his murderous actions. All this said, he’s still an uncommonly engaging lead actor who once again steals the show. 

Ed Harris, Jessica Henwick, and Bill Camp lead a strong supporting cast that also features fun turns from Zach Woods and Topher Grace. The revolving door of characters keeps the experience fresh throughout. Unfortunately, Margaret Qualley delivers one of her worst recent performances as Beckett’s childhood friend, Julia. I like how the character functions within the plot, but Qualley often comes across as if she’s trying to emulate a 40s femme fatale. This makes sense considering what the character does, but she just goes way too far with it. Her performance is similar to the one she gave in Honey, Don’t! (2025), which doesn’t make a lot of sense here. 

Despite an extremely dark, morbid premise, the film lacks punch. This is partly due to the previously mentioned fact that the protagonist shows no emotional response to his crimes. This results in everything feeling a tad clinical. We witness what’s happening, but never actually FEEL it. It’s tough to willingly follow a character who doesn’t seem to care about the consequences of his actions. The further the film goes, the more it becomes clear that he’s not going to change, which makes it tough to care about him. Granted, this descent into greed eventually comes full circle, delivering a surprisingly powerful message about how reality rarely plays out like the movies. In real life, money often trumps morals–a sad truth. 

Overall, this is a well-shot film with a compelling premise that unfortunately falls flat in a few key areas. Glen Powell is miscast, and Margaret Qualley delivers a risky performance that doesn’t quite work out. Other than maybe the ending, the film is also a tad formulaic, repetitive, and thus, predictable. In general, it’s just a story that seems to lack any emotion, which is disappointing given its inherent life-or-death stakes. All that said, it’s never a horrible experience and doesn’t overstay its welcome. It delivers what the trailer promised, but little else. If it seems like your kind of thing, wait to stream it at home. C+