Glen Powell has played everything from a storm chaser to a fighter pilot to a football player to a hit man, and for his latest role in the upcoming A24 movie How to Make a Killing, it looks like he’s returning to his murderous ways. Critics saw the film ahead of its release on the 2026 movie calendar, in which Powell’s Becket Redfellow goes after the inheritance he thinks he’s owed after being disowned at birth by his disgustingly wealthy family, so what are they saying about the revenge thriller?
How to Make a Killing stars an ensemble cast, including Margaret Qualley and Jessica Henwick as Becket’s childhood friend and girlfriend, respectively, as well as those who make up the Redfellows standing in the way of his fortune: Bill Camp, Zach Woods, Topher Grace and Ed Harris, to name a few. According to Alexander Mooney of Slant, the humanity in these characters gives a grim sense of irony to Becket’s plight. The critic scores the movie 3 stars out of 4, writing:
Through it all, it’s just as thrilling to watch Becket succeed as it is to watch him make the wrong decision, and often these happen in the same instant. Becket is kept at just the right emotional distance from the viewer, with Powell’s taught visage prone to morphing from expressions of Patrick Bateman-esque sociopathy to those of pained humanity with a mere shift of the light.
Previously titled Huntington, Glen Powell’s dark comedy is “watchably weird,” according to Owen Gleiberman of Variety, who writes that its take on the depravity of greed keeps it afloat. The critic continues:
It’s a light-fingered drop-dead screw-loose noir — a quasi-satirical mash-up of greed and desperation and Wall Street chicanery and a dash of romance, with Glen Powell, dishy in Brioni suits, turning his pin-eyed handsomeness into a mask of yuppie treachery.
Jacob Oller of AV Club writes that despite the many different roles Glen Powell has played, this movie yet again shows him as smirking, quippy and strikingly put together. Add to that the script's loose grasp of the haves and have-nots and inability to find the tonal balance between outlandish and self-serious, and the critic can’t grade it higher than a C. Oller says:
At the center of it all is Powell, making the same face for an hour and 45 minutes, too unflappable to root for, too smug to magnetize as an inhuman American Psycho. And How To Make A Killing needed to pick a side, either of clownish class comedy or of bitter sociopathic satire. Its split-difference approach certainly racks up a sizable body count, but its most battered and bruised victim is the truism it keeps hitting: In America, there are no consequences for the rich, unless other rich people desire it. That’s almost funny, in an empty and respectable way, like how a New Yorker cartoon is almost funny, or how Glen Powell is almost a leading man.
Ouch! Although IndieWire’s Kate Erbland also gives it a C, saying the film lacks the fun required to pull off such a kill-the-rich dark comedy. The critic attributes this to two missteps: First, the voiceover narration makes the film exposition-heavy, depriving us of what should be the most deliciously devious scenes, and secondly, Glen Powell isn’t believable as a rage-driven bad guy, especially when the director doesn’t seem able to decide whether we should want to root for him or not. Erbland continues:
Letting Becket narrate the entire outing sure doesn’t help, adding a structure that isn’t just boring, but also confusing. There are moments in which it seems — perhaps? — that Becket’s narration is actually an internal monologue, but we never get close enough to him to decide if that’s the case. It also robs the film of what should be obvious pleasures, such as Becket planning the multiple murders he needs to complete to secure his fortune. Instead, we simply arrive at the scenes of his crimes, no forethought or intention provided, no snappy planning montages, no joy or humor in these dark machinations.
Kristy Puchko of Mashable feels Glen Powell was miscast, as he’s unable to match the humor of the ensemble around him. Also, he’s playing an underdog but has the suavity of a leading man, Puchko says, and his thinly written character comes off as “bland.” After seeing so many compelling eat-the-rich comedies in the past few years, How to Make a Killing is tame by comparison, the critic says:
How to Make a Killing isn't shocking in its violence, but it is bold in its gaping plot holes. For a movie so fixated on how its anti-hero aims to get away with murder, it's wild to ignore typical evidence, like DNA, as a plot point. But most frustrating of all is how How to Make a Killing offers neither political satire nor cheap thrills, delivering a tedious cautionary tale about the pursuit of money at all costs.
This is a tough one to call, as critics are split right down the middle on Rotten Tomatoes, giving How to Make a Killing 50% on the Tomatometer. If you want to check out Glen Powell’s latest role amongst a killer supporting cast, this dark comedy revenge thriller is in theaters as of Friday, February 20.
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