Warner Bros’ New Horror is The Perfect Replacement for 2 Modern Cult Classics

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Despite a $20 million budget, the new horror film They Will Kill You isn’t proving to be a major financial success. A week after its release, it’s making less money on weekdays than Ready or Not 2: Here I Come, which is also performing below expectations compared to the first Ready or Not film. However, like its predecessor, They Will Kill You has the potential to become a beloved cult classic. It has all the right elements: a strong lead actor, a wildly unpredictable final act, plenty of surprising twists along the way, and some of the most impressive action sequences of the year – reminiscent of the John Wick films.

Beyond its financial success and growing popularity, They Will Kill You shares similarities with Ready or Not, and a handful of other well-loved cult films. Let’s explore those connections and what makes them alike.

Of course, spoilers for They Will Kill You follow.

What Movies Come to Mind When Watching They Will Kill You?

The movie They Will Kill You centers on Asia Reaves, played by Zazie Beetz, who takes a job as a maid at a high-rise building called The Virgil. However, this is all a disguise – she’s actually assuming another woman’s identity to get inside and search for her sister. Asia abandoned her sister ten years earlier after they both killed their father, who was abusive.

The movie centers around The Virgil, a tall skyscraper where the main character fights her way up and down against members of a dangerous cult. If you remove the supernatural element – the cultists who can even recover from being decapitated – the structure of the film is very similar to The Raid: Redemption and Dredd. Each time the character moves to a new floor, those films come to mind, building towards a final confrontation. However, it’s important to remember this movie still has its own unique qualities.

Honestly, when I’m watching a movie, I expect a certain level of… well, normalcy. You won’t find any scenes in typical films where the actress Heather Graham’s eye is literally bouncing around an airshaft, trying to keep track of the hero. And let’s just say the endings are usually a bit less… extreme. I highly doubt you’d ever see Patricia Arquette, a fantastic Oscar-winning actress, sporting a pig’s head possessed by Satan as the final shot. It’s just not something you see every day!

Beyond being a horror take on classic themes, They Will Kill You feels similar to Ready or Not and even Kill Bill (though Kill Bill was a mainstream success, not a ‘cult’ classic). Like Ready or Not, this film features a woman battling a group of cultists. However, it shares a stronger connection with Here I Come, as both center around a woman facing cultists to save her sister.

Despite both movies being released simultaneously, they’re both good enough that they don’t feel repetitive or detract from each other. You could even watch them back-to-back without feeling overwhelmed by similar content.

Like Kill Bill, the strength of They Will Kill You lies in how the story is told. While mostly following a straight timeline, the film occasionally jumps around, using stylish title cards to reveal backstory about characters like Asia and her sister Maria, and how they became involved with The Virgil. Similar to Kill Bill, it’s clearly inspired by classic exploitation films, with flashy action and a skilled protagonist—Asia, who is a master with a blade. These elements often create the feeling that this film exists within the same world as the Beatrix Kiddo saga.

If you saw They Will Kill You when it came out, we’d love to hear your thoughts! Did it remind you of any other films? Share your opinion and discuss it with other fans in the ComicBook Forum!

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2026-04-04 21:13