“You’d be shocked what the audience is willing to root for”: John Patton Ford and Jessica Henwick on How to Make a Killing

Following up his blisteringly original debut Emily the Criminal, featuring arguably a career-best turn from Aubrey Plaza, comes black comedy thriller How to Make a Killing from writer/director John Patton Ford. Channelling the 1949 Ealing satire Kind Hearts and Coronets, itself loosely based on the 1907 novel Israel Rank: The Autobiography of a Criminal by Roy Horniman, the action follows Becket Redfellow, a down-on-his-luck working-class outsider disowned by his ultra-wealthy family at birth, who decides to murder his way back to his rightful inheritance.

Glen Powell, fresh from his newly crowned status as the “movie star” of our era, takes on Becket with panache, his tanned, flawless physique and oozing charisma working brilliantly against type as a borderline unhinged serial killer (or is he just a regular guy doing his best to level things out in the brazenly uneven playing field of life?). Helping the audience root for said killer are the obnoxious characters in the Redfellow family, whose total lack of regard for others allows us to delight in seeing Becket dispatch them in beautifully creative ways, highlights being Zach Woods’s Noah Redfellow, a painfully cringe wannabe edgy artist. Margaret Qualley nails her role as the deliciously sinister and superficial Julia, armed with legs up to her elbows, as does Jessica Henwick as the only sane and grounded character among them, Ruth, who shares electric chemistry with Powell. The icing on the absurd cake is Ed Harris at his absolute best as the Redfellow patriarch, climaxing in what can only be described as a full-on action sequence featuring bow and arrow…

While it never takes itself too seriously, the film’s biting critique of the increasingly lopsided world we find ourselves in makes its class and social commentary clear, and there’s no doubt it’s satisfying to watch the 1% suffer on screen in a way we know they never will in real life.

In an in-depth interview with The Upcoming, Ford discussed how he reimagined the premise of Kind Hearts and Coronets for contemporary audiences, shifting the story’s focus from the British class system to a darker satire of the American dream and extreme wealth. He also spoke about developing the project for several years before Emily the Criminal, finding the right tonal balance between absurd dark comedy and thriller, and why casting Powell – whose natural charm contrasted sharply with Becket’s increasingly sociopathic behaviour – helped anchor the film’s twisted premise.

Henwick described the movie as a witty, sexy thriller that balances romance, satire and anti-heroic murder, praising Ford’s sharp adaptation of class and ambition into an American context. She reflected on Powell’s formidable star power, the cast’s comic energy, and the film’s deeper questions about wealth, morality and how far people would go to get what they think they deserve.

Sarah Bradbury

How to Make a Killing is released nationwide on 11^th March 2026.

Watch the trailer for How to Make a Killing here: