With the release of dark comedies like Ready or Not 2: Here I Come and Forbidden Fruits, there seems to be a running trend of horror thrillers centered on women infiltrating demonic cults. And They Will Kill You picks up the trend with ease, pitting Zazie Beetz’s unsuspecting Asia against a hotel full of Satanic worshippers on the hunt for their next human sacrifice.
Directed by Kirill Sokolov (Why Don’t You Just Die!), They Will Kill You follows its protagonist as she answers a help-wanted ad at the mysterious New York high-rise hotel, the Virgil. After a more-than-creepy introduction to the building manager, Patricia Arquette’s Lilith, our heroine is immediately attacked by a group of masked, armed villains. Tom Felton leads the nefarious charge as the rich hotel tenant, Kevin.
“Kevin’s a fragile warrior, I think,” said Felton in an interview exclusive to Rolling Stone Philippines. “He thinks of himself as a James Bond, but doesn’t quite meet up with the requirements.”
They Will Kill You made its world premiere at the South by Southwest Film Festival; critics agree on the movie’s ability to play within the genres of comedy, thriller, and horror. “The pieces are all in place for a viciously enjoyable midnight action romp,” wrote Variety. And of Felton’s time onscreen, Deadline deemed it “a distinct, unhinged performance to the onscreen cult in this high-octane, adrenaline-pumping flick.”
In this interview, Felton reflects on fleshing out his demon-loving antagonist, reading the script for the first time, and working with his cult worshipper counterpart, Heather Graham.
They Will Kill You opens in Philippine cinemas on March 25.
On How the Project Came to Tom Felton
“This project came across my desk and was one of the most unique reads of my career, and very sharply after that I had a wonderful 10-minute Zoom meeting with Kirill that turned into a half an hour. Actually it was longer than that. I think it was like 50 minutes. Us both geeking out about films and genres, and his passion for film. And then after that conversation was had, I was signing on the dotted line.”
On His Initial Impressions of the Script
“It’s very hard to define why the script was so unique. There are so many elements of it that were not in anything that I’d ever read before. Where do you start with this script? I think the genre of it was the hardest thing for me to place. Usually, when you hear a song, in the first minute, you know how the rest of the song is going to sound, for lack of a better analogy. But this script just kept turning, so which genre does it fit in? I think the word horror came up, the word thriller came up, suspenseful came up, but none of those really allowed the film to be one or even all of them, it had so many more aspects to it. From family bonds to Satanic cults, the script really has it all, and it pulls it off in such a way that made it impossible to say no.”
On His Character, Kevin
“Well, Kevin, he’s a fragile warrior, I think. I put him as a ‘90s banker who was highly successful. Two years in a row he was the highest selling banker back in London in the square mile. But he got offered a chance to go to New York to extend his career where he got a bit greedy. I think Kevin’s a bit greedy. He thinks of himself as a James Bond, but doesn’t quite meet up with the requirements. So my story for him is that from being at the top of the world of his field, he was brought very quickly to the bottom, and that’s where Kevin was introduced to the Virgil, the building and establishment that he has lived in since then, in an attempt to reclaim his power. But in a nutshell, for Kevin, he’s James Bond who just didn’t quite make the grade for the MI5, in my mind.”
On Heather Graham, Who Plays Kevin’s Counterpart Sharon
“Kevin and Sharon, they have a unique relationship for so many reasons, but the yin and the yang off the two of them is so good. One of the things Kirill said to me quite early on was his love for Kevin and Sharon as a dynamic, very strange duo, and working with Heather has been fantastic, dovetailing where one character has its strengths, the other one doesn’t. So they’re a twisted couple, but it’s been a lot of fun creating them. I actually love them and all the residents at the Virgil, in a weird way. I know it’s a Satanic cult, so to speak, but there’s so much empathy I found in these characters. They are flawed, they’re not perfect, they are pretty useless at times, which lends itself to humor but also lends itself to heart, and you can understand why these characters got into the pickle that they got into.”
On Zazie Beetz, Who Plays Asia
“Zazie’s amazing. She’s obviously our hero of the piece or she was also our hero on set. I’ve never seen an actor take on so much so effortlessly, not just the fact she’s in every single scene or she’s in every single day. She’s been beaten up, they’ve thrown her around the Virgil barefoot with swords and blood and zip wires and bruises, and she seems to take it all in her stride, which is enviable, because I would’ve been moaning a lot sooner. But it’s a really respectful quality to have. If she’s as graceful and as hard-working as she is, then it makes the job a lot easier for the rest of us. But professionally, it’s hilarious because we’re sitting here talking about where she went on holiday last week or what she likes to cook at home, and then a minute later she’s cutting someone’s head off with a machete. So it’s never a dull moment in the office.”
On the Virgil Hotel
“I can’t speak highly enough about [production designer] Jeremy Reed and his team and everyone that put the sets together with such attention to detail, such creepiness, but also such familiarity. I mean, the camera couldn’t see it, but even parts of the wallpaper were just slightly folding off. It gives the illusion perfectly that someone’s lived there for so long. Jeremy just has an eye. He’s such a lovely chap. That’s one of the things that’s really disturbing about this. Everyone that has made all these really creepy sets, props, hair, makeup, they’re all incredibly nice in real life. So it’s quite a juxta. But Jeremy especially, he’s got an eye for something very unique that just looks amazing on camera.”
“And working with Neil McClean, our fabulous costume designer, has been a godsend because he put everyone in such distinctive looks, and I didn’t really have a vision of what Kevin was going to look like when I arrived in Cape Town, but the moment I saw the boards and what he had in mind, I loved it. Because he was very suave, and he made himself look far more eloquent and decadent than he actually is. He looks like someone from old money, but really, he’s not. And like any good costume, as soon as you wear it, you immediately feel you [are] embodying someone else. My whole posture changes as soon as I put on that suit, so it was fun.”
On Working with Director Kirill Sokolov
“Kirill’s fantastic. He’s so supportive, he’s also so much fun. He reminds me of a kid in a candy store, where he’s got all of the different flavors of sweets that he needs to create this incredible sweet that no one’s ever thought of before. He has a youthful exuberance and he’s just very excited by everything, and he knows what the flavor sweet should be. So when he doesn’t quite get it right, then he wants to collaborate with everyone to make it what it should be. His excitement definitely fueled a lot of the cast and crew. That and Kirill’s passion for filmmaking. There’s not a single reference that he gave me that I knew, because it was always from these very obscure arthouse films or things that I had to Google, which has been great for my passion and learning about filmmaking as well.”
