How to Make a Killing
3/5 stars
Wealth, fashion and class systems — 2026 is gearing up to be an interesting year for those three themes dominating what we see on the big screen. Adding its own flavour to the mix is Patton Ford’s How to Make a Killing, which is loosely based on the 1949 movie Kind Hearts and Coronets (which takes inspiration from Roy Horniman’s Israel Rank: The Autobiography of a Criminal).
The black comedy follows Becket Redfellow, who is facing death row for a series of murders he committed in his pursuit of a fortune he was excluded from.
Taking to Cape Town’s beaches and points of interest, the movie joins a bevy of costume-lead productions including Wuthering Heights, The Bride and the upcoming Keke Palmer-lead project, I Love Boosters.
It’s easy to make the mistake of thinking it celebrates the ostentatious wealth seen on screen. Much like Succession, the film scoffs at the foibles of the wealthy and the lengths they will go to exclude others from their world.
The spark that leads him to plotting murders is Margaret Qualley’s Julia Steinway. A new age screen siren who both participates in Beckett’s othering and becomes a key diamond for him to earn once he digs himself out of the doldrums of being middle class.
This is the fate of Beckett, whose dying mother leaves him with the message to fight for what is rightfully his, which feeds his desire to be rich. After a teenage pregnancy, his mother is shunned by her father (Beckett’s wealthy grandfather brought to life by Ed Harris, Whitelaw Redfellow) who has other nieces and nephews in line for the fortune his late mother would have inherited.
The spark that leads him to plotting murders against his estranged family is Margaret Qualley as Julia Steinway. She is a new-age screen siren who both participates in Beckett’s othering and becomes the apple of his eye as he digs himself out of the doldrums of being middle-class.
In macabre and hilarious ways, Beckett finds little tricks to kill his family members in the name of earning what was taken from him and his mother. But this path to revenge comes with many a caveat — the relationships he makes along the way.
To secure his position in the Redfellow family, he climbs the ladder at an investment company owned by his uncle, Warren Redfellow (Bill Camp), and when orchestrating the death of Warren’s altruistic nephew Noah (Zach Woods), he ends up falling for his mourning girlfriend, Ruth. Both play a pivotal role in helping him establish a satisfying life. In his pursuit of revenge, Beckett is blinded by a greedy need to have more and completely loses sight of both of his loved ones.
Having already made the effort to build a healthy relationship with Ruth and rise up the ranks of his uncle’s company, the crybully nepo baby salivates when continuously presented with an opportunity to squander these opportunities — a tragedy that continuously leads him into the sticky web spun by Julia.
In her costuming alone, Julia is presented in Chanel two-pieces and a pale colour palette that makes her incredibly unassuming. As a rich girl prepped for the skulduggerous world of high-stakes marriage, cotillions and high society, she has mastered the cunning art of getting away with murder. This is something she achieves with her bevvy of tweed suits to mimic childlike innocence in front of Beckett.
Julia’s actions are laid out to trap Beckett, utilising his brawn to only clasp his victories at the end. This is something we see in HBO’s Succession, where the usurper and social climber, Tom, places himself in a powerful position to take over the inheritance of the Roy family. His former wife, Shiv Roy, is often written as the rightful heir in how she shares her political views, scoffing at monopolies and costumed in a trendy, old-money aesthetic that makes her palatable yet still part of the problem. Her complacence, however, leads to her being trapped in an unhappy marriage to Tom, although she is the one responsible for his swindling her siblings out of the business.
Julia makes the same skilful move but with a lot more agency than Tom. She works her way into Beckett’s fortune and, in a Faustian bargain, keeps him trapped in a relationship that he never should have pursued in the first place. Much like the riches he believes he is owed and needs, Beckett still carries a childish wonder for the life of the rich and famous. Unlike Succession, the movie is not filtered bleakly with a cold feel towards the wealth they flaunt. They are not interested in telling us that these achievements are inherently displeasing, but they portray it as a colourful world filled with luxurious trinkets. It’s this technicolour lens through which Beckett sees life that continues to keep him oppressed.
While it might not be primed for the 2027 Oscar run, the movie has a stellar cast worth watching for those looking for a fun night out with dark, Gatsby-meets-Desperate-Housewives humour that makes it worth rewatching.
Ultimately, it’s also a great conversation starter on the tragedy of pursuing childish ideas about a happy and wealthy life.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.