Glen Powell's Overlooked Serial Killer Movie Is Taking Over HBO Max Charts
Glen Powell is, without question, one of Hollywood's brightest young stars ... but for some reason, his 2026 serial killer flick "How to Make a Killing," written and directed by John Patton Ford with the 1949 movie "Kind Hearts and Coronets" as its inspiration, didn't make a killing when it released by A24 in March. So what is it about, and why should you check it out?
Told as Powell's character Becket Redfellow chats with a priest as he (Becket, not the priest) sits on death row and awaits his execution, "How to Make a Killing" explains how a young Becket was told, by his dying mother, that he should fight for a life he deserves. Unfortunately, what that means for Becket is that, when he grows up, he figures out he might be eligible to collect the massive Redfellow inheritance ... and sets out to systematically murder every family member who stands between him and the $28 billion windfall. Along the way, he discovers a surprising opponent: his childhood friend Julia Steinway (Margaret Qualley), who's also a schemer looking for a huge payout.
"How to Make a Killing," which is performing well on HBO Max (per FlixPatrol), didn't really make a splash when it initially came out — it actually flopped at the box office, making just $21 million on a $15 million budget — and unfortunately, critics weren't exactly wild about this Powell vehicle either. So what did they have to say?
Critics didn't think Glen Powell's movie How to Make a Killing killed it, apparently
Over at Rotten Tomatoes, "How to Make a Killing" definitely didn't kill it with critics. With a rating of just 45% (making it "rotten"), the critical consensus reads, "Deploying Glen Powell's magnetic likability to head-scratching ends, this tonally bizarre comedic thriller wants to eat its rich and have it, too." So what about individual critics? They didn't love it either.
At Newsweek, Billie Melissa wrote, "'How to Make a Killing' feels as though it's trying to do too much, and ultimately delivers on none of its promises." Elsewhere, on his own publication The Travers Take, Peter Travers was pretty rough on the film. "In this sadly stunted comic thriller, a delightfully depraved Glen Powell must kill seven of his family members to inherit $28 billion," he wrote. "Would you? By the end, the film commits the worst crime of all by killing our interest." Apparently, Frank Scheck agreed in his review for The Hollywood Reporter and compared it to a recent crime thriller starring Aubrey Plaza: "Ultimately, 'How to Make a Killing' doesn't have the courage of its convictions, or even its killings, giving it a blandness that's surprising coming from the writer-director of the much sharper 'Emily the Criminal.'"
Across the board, critics simply didn't seem charmed by this effort from Powell. At least some of them, like Manohla Dargis for The New York Times, found something to enjoy; as she mused, "The story and the actors make 'How to Make a Killing' easy to drift along with, even if it never coheres tonally, logically, or, really, any which way." We've got good news, though. If you didn't love "How to Make a Killing," there's another Powell vehicle that might tickle your fancy.
How to Make a Killing isn't the first time Glen Powell has played a killer ... kind of
If you want to watch a different movie where Glen Powell stars as a charming schemer who may or may not be a murderer, you're in luck — because "Hit Man" exists. Released in 2023, based on a real-life story chronicled in a 2001 article by Skip Hollandsworth, and written by Powell alongside his director Richard Linklater, "Hit Man" focuses on Powell's meek, friendly psychology and philosophy professor Gary Johnson. Gary isn't just a professor, though; he moonlights with the New Orleans Police Department to help set up sting operations that suss out citizens attempting to hire hitmen to take out enemies or even loved ones. When the decoy "hit man" is pulled from the operations due to bad behavior, Gary has to step in ... and accidentally figures out that he's really, really good at pretending to be a killer. This leads him to Adria Arjona's beautiful but troubled Madison, who approaches Gary (whom she knows as "Ron") and asks him to kill her husband before the two start falling for each other.
Powell is so charming and so good in "Hit Man" that it encouraged Stephen King to cast him in Edgar Wright's 2025 adaptation "The Running Man," and even though he's not actually a murderer in this movie, it pairs pretty perfectly with "How to Make a Killing." "Hit Man" is exclusively available to watch on Netflix, and "How to Make a Killing" is a bonafide hit on HBO Max.