“How to Make a Killing” is More Proof of Glen Powell’s Charm
If the only thing that stood between you and $28 billion was seven relatives you barely knew, what would you do? Based on a 1949 film that was based on a 1907 novel, John Patton Ford’s How to Make a Killing answers that question fairly easily. Ford previously wrote and directed Emily the Criminal, which saw the titular Emily backed into a corner and forced to make hard choices to survive. The main character in How to Make a Killing bears some similarities to Emily, but takes matters into his own hands in a far more extreme manner.
The Redfellow family has private planes, islands, estates, and a whopping $28 billion to their name. The fortune is tied up in a rock-solid trust, locked away for the last Redfellow standing. Beckett (Glen Powell) has no real chance of seeing that money. His mother was kicked out when she got pregnant at eighteen and was fully disowned by Whitelaw (Ed Harris), the family patriarch. His mother passed away when Beckett was a child, but even then the Redfellows wanted nothing to do with him. As an adult, Beckett tries to live the life his mother wanted for him, but a part of him still wants what’s owed to him. There are seven relatives standing between him and control of the trust. A little murder wouldn’t hurt.
courtesy of A24
The DNA of How to Make a Killing comes from 1940s noirs like Double Indemnity, where a femme fatale encourages a pliable man to whack a few people. In the matter of How to Make a Killing, that femme fatale, Julia, is played by Margaret Qualley. Julia is Beckett’s longtime childhood friend. The two had a crush on each other, but lost contact when Beckett’s mom passed away. It’s Julia’s suggestion to kill his family members that pushes him to see how difficult it would be to kill even one of them. Qualley delights in playing a woman who has far more cards than she’s willing to show. She feeds his belief that money will solve all his problems, but he tells her about his brief, lovely childhood with his mother. They had no money or familial connections, yet she kept a roof over his head, food on the table, and love in his heart. That was all he needed.
While not a strict morality exercise, How to Make a Killing does question whether money can buy happiness. Beckett says that anyone who tells you otherwise is lying, that money and happiness are intertwined. He’s right, to a degree. Being able to afford essentials, not even talking about vacations and the rare splurge, takes an immense amount of stress off a person’s shoulders. The kind of wealth in the Redfellow family doesn’t create happiness; that happened long before the total in the bank account hit $28 billion. How to Make a Killing is not a scathing takedown of capitalism, but it does make the case for recognizing what’s in front of you.
courtesy of A24
The age-old adage tells us that the grass is always greener on the other side. A man will plan to murder seven people rather than look at the joy that’s around him. “It’s just scary to dream small. Nobody teaches us how to do that.” That line comes midway through the film from Ruth (Jessica Henwick), a woman who makes Beckett pause to reconsider what he’d been doing so callously. His whole pursuit of the Redfellow fortune came from a promise he made to his mother — that he wouldn’t rest until his life was the one he deserved. She never explained what that meant, and Beckett interpreted it as the lavish lifestyle that was denied him.
“It’s just scary to dream small.” What a lovely summation of what most of us are really after. Most people don’t want $28 billion. They want safety, security, and love. Beckett doesn’t realize that he had glimpses of that throughout his life, but couldn’t see it because of the far off, glittering gold. How to Make a Killing is a dark comedy that doesn’t shy away from the sadness of the heartbreak that comes when all your dreams come true.
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