Movie review
February 19, 2026 · 105 min · R
Woke Score
Lower is better
Review
How to Make a Killing is a 2026 black comedy thriller about a blue-collar man named Becket who was disowned by his obscenely wealthy family and decides to murder his way to a $28 billion inheritance. Glen Powell stars as Becket in this modern American update of the 1949 British classic Kind Hearts and Coronets, directed and written by John Patton Ford. The story uses dark humor, voiceover narration, manipulation, and violent set pieces to explore greed, revenge, and class resentment inside an elite family. It includes some wealth inequality ideas but stays focused on personal payback and thriller plotting rather than identity themes or lectures.
Breakdown
These are the editorial factors and ratings behind our score for How to Make a Killing.
Woke representation / casting
The cast features some diversity in supporting roles, including Jessica Henwick (mixed heritage) as the protagonist's girlfriend Ruth and actors of color in smaller parts such as FBI agents, fitting a modern American setting and South African production hires. Prominent family roles and the lead remain largely aligned with traditional wealthy-family casting without visible quota-style emphasis, identity signaling, or story mismatch.
Woke political dialogue
The film relies on dark humor, narration, scheming, and violent scenes. No reports of activist speeches, identity-based arguments, or DEI-style dialogue.
Identity-driven story themes
The premise centers on a blue-collar outsider using murder and manipulation to claim wealth from an elite family, touching class resentment and inherited privilege. These elements come through plot and dark comedy rather than race, gender, sexuality, or identity-politics arcs.
Western institutional / cultural critique
It satirizes extreme old-money wealth, family entitlement, and billion-dollar fortunes through the protagonist's extreme revenge. This fits a generic "eat the rich" revenge comedy updated from the British source, without strong modern activist framing around patriarchy, whiteness, toxic masculinity, or systemic identity oppression. The director has said he wanted to avoid simple "rich people are bad" messaging.
Woke character or canon changes
Not relevant. Standard loose adaptation changes (names, setting, murder methods, added thriller elements like FBI plots) update the 1949 classic for a new audience and era with no identity-driven or DEI-motivated alterations to canon characters or source material.
Anti-woke backlash and complaints
No notable right-leaning or anti-woke complaints accuse the film of pushing woke, DEI, or identity politics content. Discussion stays on remake quality, humor, and comparison to the original's class satire.
Creator track record context
John Patton Ford's earlier film Emily the Criminal deals with student debt, gig work, and economic desperation from a character viewpoint. He has avoided framing his work as strongly political. Producers show low political profiles per available records. Historical source writers operated in a pre-modern-activism era.
Production
