How to Make a Killing — Fiction about a real system

How far will someone go to get their life back?

Image: © A24 / Fair Use for review and commentary

How to Make a Killing is one of those projects that arouses curiosity even before its theatrical release, despite the fact that few details have been officially released. One thing is certain: it is a feature film, directed and written by John Patton Ford, who proved with Emily the Criminal (2022) that he can tell stories about moral border crossers in a calm but intense tone. This style alone is enough to draw attention to the project, because Ford is not interested in heroic narratives, but in characters who, step by step, make decisions that become bigger than themselves.

Image: © A24 / Fair Use for review and commentary

The most well-known description of the plot on IMDb describes the basic idea as follows:

“A man named Becket Redfellow was rejected by an extremely wealthy family at birth. Now he wants his inheritance back — and will stop at nothing to get it, not even relatives who stand in his way.”

Whether this summary accurately reflects the later plot remains to be seen, but it does suggest a clear direction. It’s about greed, power, and the attempt to return to a life that never belonged to you. This makes the film seem less like a political drama and more like a thriller with black humor, in which moral boundaries are not discussed theoretically but crossed in practice. The cast reinforces this impression. Glen Powell takes on the lead role and embodies the mixture of charm and coldness that characterizes characters who can appear both likable and dangerous. Margaret Qualley stands for intensity and emotional turmoil, which often plays an important role in stories involving mistrust and conflicts of loyalty. Ed Harris, on the other hand, is almost synonymous with authority and toughness, making him a logical choice for a film in which power structures and pressure play a role. This combination alone suggests that the film focuses more on psychological tension and confrontation than on big action scenes.

Image: © A24 / Fair Use for review and commentary

What remains unclear is the tone, genre emphasis, and exact story beats. Whether the film leans more toward thriller, satire, or dark family drama will only become clear with the trailer and further information. The question of how strongly the story veers into the absurd, ironic, or brutal is also currently unanswered. The only thing that is certain is that Ford’s previous work suggests a preference for realistically told suspense rather than loud spectacle. He is interested in characters under pressure, not explosions. This leaves How to Make a Killing as a project with few published facts, but a clear underlying tension. A director with a profile, a top-class cast, and a premise that immediately creates conflict. That’s all it takes at the moment to keep the film on the radar in 2026. The rest is waiting — for trailers, interviews, and final confirmation of where the story is actually headed.