A British psychological thriller film dubbed ‘extremely disturbing’ has arrived on Amazon Prime Video.
Kill List, directed by Ben Wheatley, follows Jay (Neil Maskell) a former soldier who has become a hitman since leaving the military.
A year after a job gone wrong, Jay is offered a big payout for killing three targets – The Priest, The Librarian, and The MP.
But what starts as a relatively straightforward job soon becomes a living nightmare for Jay as his paranoia begins to wreak havoc on his work before he witnesses something strange and otherworldly that puts his own life in danger.
Starring Neil Maskell, MyAnna Buring and Michael Smiley, Kill List was the second feature film from Wheatley who went on to create Sightseers, High-Rise, Rebecca, In The Earth, and Meg 2: The Trench.
Following its SXSW premiere and general release, Kill List was praised by cinemagoers and critics alike for its slow-burn tension and insane, twisty ending that left fans on the edge of their seats.
The chilling movie holds a 78% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with the critics’ consensus reading: ‘Kill List is an expertly executed slow-burn crime thriller that thrives on tension before morphing into visceral horror.’
The Spool described Kill List as ‘extremely disturbing’ while CineVue said it was an ’emotional rollercoaster.’
Variety said: ‘Displaying both a nasty edge and a playful sense of humour — but thankfully, never at the same time — Brit import Kill List is several cuts above its fellow midbudget horror brethren.’
The Hollywood Reporter wrote: ‘Deeply edgy, gory crime film maintains perfectly calibrated tension before dropping a bombshell that will be too much for some viewers.’
The San Francisco Chronicle added: ‘Kill List has a slow build, but don’t be lulled into complacency. This is one of the most violent and disturbing films you’ll see in an art house.’
The New York Times summarised: ‘The film’s title may draw you in, but it’s the texture that keeps you watching.’
Speaking to IndieWire in 2012, Wheatley discussed the traumatizing nature of the film and discussions over whether or not he considers Kill List a horror.
‘I think it’s a horror film,’ he concluded. ‘As things went on, I wasn’t sure whether I’d made the mistake of understanding the difference between horror and horrible.
‘And I think that it’s definitely a horrible film, but it was definitely a film that I was trying to make that would be scary.
‘I think my understanding of what a scary film is kind of broader than the straight-up genre definitions of what a horror film might be. I stretch it out to include things like Elem Klimov’s “Come and See” or some of the Ken Loach movies.’
He added: ‘So I think it’s psychological horror and those kind of things are not necessarily within the realms of the supernatural, but they’ll get into the audiences head and play with those kind of feelings.’
Kill List is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video
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