‘How to Make a Killing’ Nails Pitfalls of Greedy Pursuits

In an economic ecosystem marked by struggle, inflation and debt How to Make a Killing‘s plot to speed up access to a multi-billion-dollar inheritance is understandably appealing.

Key points:

Beckett Redfellow (Glen Powell) is hours away from death row when we meet him, telling a prison chaplain the series of events that led to his murder charge.

Beckett explains he’s the illegitimate child of an heiress to a multi-billion-dollar estate and, as-per the instructions of his late mother, he wanted to pursue the “right kind of life” – where he gets the wealth he deserves – by offing seven relatives standing in the way of his inheritance.

The pursuit is not a gory one, more goofy and accidentally-successful, and points to a bigger conversation about our understanding of “enough” and the destructiveness of being money-hungry.

When Beckett’s mother fell pregnant at 18 and was excommunicated from the family, his life was put on path of struggle and disillusionment. He might not have realised it if he wasn’t told he was meant to have had a different one, but once he knows this life is “wrong” he can’t help but attempt to claim his title.

There are moments along the way Beckett’s asked why he needs to keep going given he reaches a good middle-class level of success, but even he can’t seem to answer why his conscience is ignored.

It’s a confronting, if not relatable, dilemma when you think of how easily we can get caught up working for more without really thinking about why we feel compelled to have everything.

How to Make a Killing is an easy film for Powell, who seems to be soaking up his season of top-billing in Hollywood, but its simplicity is searing in its assessment of societies elite.

Access to “old money” has allowed the Redfellow’s to embrace arrogant artistry, nepotism, opulence and overblown trips to the moon (doesn’t sound familiar at all) and even international megachurch endeavours with little moral consequence.

How to Make a Killing will come and go with little fanfare, but its views on money are worthy of attention.

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How to Make a Killing is in cinemas March 5, rated M for mature themes, violence and coarse language.

Feature image: Supplied