This weekend, the latest film from Glen Powell, How to Make A Killing drops in theaters. This is a film that I was very excited to check out as it was one of my most anticipated films of 2026. What did I think about the film? Was it any good? Let’s talk about it!
The Good
I’ll just cut right to the chase on this film, I had an absolute blast with this film. Between this film and Crime 101, February 2026 is looking to be a great month for movies. The film is a take on the “eat the rich” sub-genre, where Glen Powell who wants his family inheritance and has to kill each member of his family in order to get it. The ride to get there is so wild and crazy, that it’s so much fun to watch. It’s tackling subject matter and themes that we’ve seen before. But it does it with so much style and fun that it finds a way to cut through in a very crowded sub-genre that’s been fairly popular over the last several years. It has a lot in common with Saltburn, the film is very different from that movie but the basic set up of an individual killing off a family to earn their money, there’s similarities between this movie and Saltburn for all of the obvious reasons. I think I prefer Saltburn to this movie because it feels so fresh and different, but this is probably the more fun version. Despite being a sub-genre that’s been fairly crowded over the last several years, How to Make A Killing is able to find a fresh angle with it. The film actually feels like a combination of Saltburn and Hit Man. Hit Man is a Glen Powell lead film which is kind of fun. But it’s combining movies that you wouldn’t think to combine. But in the context of the movie it actually works really well to combine.
The other thing that I appreciated about the film is that it kept me guessing from beginning to end. Every time I thought I had the movie figured out it would throw in a curve ball that would completely change things. Part of that is that it markets the movie as this eat the rich action comedy with Glen Powell. While the movie is that, the movie goes in some directions and even hides stuff from the trailer that makes the movie more interesting. It finds ways to keep you engaged from beginning to end through the way the story is told. One of the key characters with the film is Margaret Qualley who plays a character that has connections to Glen Powell’s past and I thought they were going in one direction with her character but they changed it up and went in a completely different direction that caught me off guard and was a really nice twist. Even going back to the way the story is told, even that makes you interested as to how he ended in the spot and what exactly happened. I was really invested and engaged in this movie from beginning to end, because it was both entertaining and it kept me guessing.
With this movie you have to talk about Glen Powell in the lead. He just continues to establish himself as a true movie star and one of the biggest movie stars of his generation. He can be so charming and charismatic while also being this very relatable guy. He’s having to play multiple different people to different characters in the film. To the audience we know that he’s killing people to get his inheritance. But when he interacts with this family he’s having to play the character differently. When he’s interacting with his relationships and friends it’s also very different because they don’t know what he’s doing. He’s sort of having to play three different characters in the film which is very impressive. He’s able to do all of it with so much movie star charm and you just love seeing lead movies like this. The entire supporting cast is also really good and really fun. What I love about this cast is that it’s filled with actors that you don’t normally see. His cousins are played by Topher Grace and Zach Woods, Gabe from The Office. They aren’t actors that you’d think to cast in a movie like this, but they did and they’re a lot of fun. Topher Grace plays this preacher that has this rockstar energy about him, it’s just a fun character. The two big standouts here besides Powell would be Margaret Qualley and Ed Harris. Qualley is one of these up and coming names of the last several years. Her character is meant to be this very seductive character that you don’t know exactly what she’s up to. She’s able to play that so well, she’s so charismatic and this is the best performance that I’ve seen from her. You also have Ed Harris as the patriarchal figure of the family. I’ve just always loved Ed Harris in movies from Apollo 13 to The Rock to National Treasure: Book of Secrets. I actually haven’t seen him in a movie in a while, and it was fun getting to see him again. It was the type of situation where you never know how much you miss seeing somebody until you see them in a movie.
Another thing that really works about this movie is that it has a lot of heart. I think the film was actually a bit mismarketed. The film primarily sells you on the fun side of the movie and all of the action set pieces with Glen Powell. While that absolutely is a big focus of the film, you get multiple sequences of people who have killed people. The film actually has a lot more heart to it. The first 20-30 minutes of the movie establishes Powell’s motivation for what he’s doing. It’s very personal, it’s heartfelt and adds this extra layer of sympathy to the character. Despite him being a bit of a bad guy for killing multiple people you’re also rooting for him and you know why he’s doing what he’s doing. You can be very conflicted with him as a person because he’s doing a lot of wrong things but you understand why. It adds more layers to this film then I was expecting and it makes it a more well rounded film. In interviews, Glen Powell has said that he’s attracted to characters who might be doing wild and crazy stuff but is able to make them relatable and this is a perfect example of this.
Finally, as I’ve alluded to throughout this review, this movie is a lot of fun. One thing I didn’t talk about with this movie is that it’s actually really funny. There’s a nice steady stream of jokes throughout the film that had me and my audience laughing out loud from beginning to end. There’s also really some dark jokes, in particular with Zach Woods’ character that are really funny and dark jokes. But it’s not just the comedy that keeps the movie entertaining. The movie itself is very entertaining with all of these fun actors and you’re seeing how Glen Powell’s character can out maneuver the police and his enemies. All around this was a total blast of a movie that worked really well for me.
The Bad
The big thing here I felt like the movie montaged through a bit too much of the plot. The middle act of the film montages through a couple of the kills in the movie and I didn’t really like that they did that. It would’ve been cool if we got to see him kill those people instead of montage over it. There’s a twist in the third act of the film that changes things up in the third act. It felt like they had like another 15-20 minutes of plot that they summarized in 5 minutes. I don’t want the movie to be longer than it needs to be. But it was very interesting stuff and material that I wish we got to spend more time with. The movie is 1 hour and 45 minutes so at its current length it’s not super long. They easily could’ve added 10-15 minutes to the movie to flesh some of these details out more. I really liked the twist and the subversions of expectations that they threw at you, I just wish that the sequence that comes after that was expanded upon.
Also, while this movie is very fun and finds a new spin on the “eat the rich” sub-genre, it’s tackling ideas that we’ve seen before. We’ve seen the type of a movie where a guy that wasn’t raised in the riches wants revenge on the rich after they didn’t treat him right earlier. We’ve seen that plot before, we’ve seen that motivation done in other films, most notably Saltburn from a few years back. This doesn’t hold the movie back for me, but it is something to note. That this isn’t the most original movie because we’ve gotten these types of movies done multiple times in the past. Had this movie come out several years back I don’t think this would’ve been an issue.
Final Thoughts: How to Make A Killing was one of my most anticipated movies of 2026 and the movie absolutely delivered everything that I wanted it to. The movie is nonstop energy and fun from start to finish. There’s a nice sharp sense of humor in the movie that’s always fun. Plus, the film is led by a very charming and charismatic Glen Powell. This is a movie that is absolutely worth your time and you’ll have a blast with it.
The Score: 8.9/10 (B+)
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