KILL LIST (2011)

 

(Director/co-screenwriter/co-editor: Ben Wheatley. Co-screenwriter/co-editor: Amy Jump. Co-editor: Robin Hill.)

Plot: A former soldier (Jay), recovering from a disastrous mission in Kyiv, joins friend and fellow soldier-turned-hitman (Gal) for a series of jobs that slowly spiral into nightmare-territory horror for them as well as Jay’s wife, Shel, and their son, Sam.

 

Review

KILL LIST’s crisp and striking images and cinematography (credit Laurie Rose) and eerie soundtrack (Jim Williams) are impressive. Director Ben Wheatley is said to have built KILL, Stanley Kubrick-style, around images, then constructed the story. This, too, is an admirably intuitive and quietly remarkable feat, especially given the depth with which Wheatley, his co-screenwriters and their cast built up their characters and their backstory.

Unfortunately, at least for this viewer, Wheatley also had his actors improvise their dialogue, which makes KILL often come off as melodramatic and overlong, notably during its domestic unrest scenes. It’s twenty minutes before KILL’s storyline appears, with more lag-time conversation and fights punctuated by focused scenes of Jay and Gal’s gory, brutal executions of their multiple targets─what should've been a major part of the storyline. KILL’s last twenty minutes are a sprint compared to the rest of the movie, its ending a variation of THE WICKER MAN (1973)─something many genre-familiar viewers may espy early on in KILL.

To be fair, I am not part of KILL’s target audience. I prefer tightly written, acted and edited works. I can, however, see how sensitive, mood-over-plot, emotionally intense movie goers might appreciate it─its cast and crew created a visually wow, gradual-build work with a few nasty, bloody scenes. KILL works in that sense, embodying the feel of its emotionally scattered characters, action and milieu. If you like MIDSOMMAR (2019) and THE RITUAL (2017), you may appreciate KILL’s languid, dark and sometimes intensely violent attractions.

Among KILL’s standout actors: Neil Maskell (THE MUMMY, 2017), for whom the role of Jay was written; MyAnna Buring (THE DESCENT, 2005) as the fiercely devoted and maternal Shel, Jay’s wife; and Michael Smiley as Gal, Jay’s friend, and business partner. And be sure to look out for a solid Robin Hill, one of KILL’s co-editors, as Stuart.