How to Make a Killing Fails Because It's Too Timid for Our Times
Source: Eileen Jones. "Glen Powell’s How to Make a Killing Is Too Squeamish to Land." February 27, 2026. jacobin.com
The Gist
The critic argues that the new Glen Powell movie fails because it tries to make a dark comedy about murdering rich people too normal and tame. She thinks it should have been more extreme and satirical like the 1949 original, especially since today's billionaires are so awful that you need really harsh comedy to match reality.
Conclusion
John Patton Ford's 'How to Make a Killing' fails as a film because it's too squeamish and normalized compared to its source material and inappropriate for our current era of extreme wealth inequality
Premises
- The original 1949 'Kind Hearts and Coronets' succeeded because it had pitch-black comic wit and extreme satirical tone that matched its murderous plot
- Ford's remake normalizes the tone and makes the antihero an ordinary guy, which undermines the premise that no ordinary person would embark on such a murderous quest
- The film drops satirical elements in favor of straight dramatic treatment, making scenes tame and dampening the overall impact
- Contemporary billionaires are so ridiculously evil in reality that they can't be caricatured beyond how they've already caricatured themselves
- Ford chose the wrong era and wrong source material to adapt if he wanted smaller, more nuanced effects rather than extreme satire
- The film's poor reception and rapid disappearance from theaters demonstrates its failure to make an impression on audiences
Assumptions
- Black comedy requires extreme tonal commitment to work effectively
- Audiences expect and need more extreme satirical content in the current era of wealth inequality
- A film's commercial and critical reception accurately reflects its artistic merit
- Adaptations should either match or exceed the satirical intensity of their source material
- Contemporary times demand more aggressive social commentary than previous eras