Jay (Neil Maskell) and Shel (MyAnna Buring) are your average English family. They’re middle class, live in a nice suburban house and have a child named Sam (Harry Simpson). The only thing that might be construed as a bit odd is that Jay is a hitman, rather an unemployed hitman, who, after messing up a job in Kiev, has been sitting at home rotting for eight months with his wife getting to her boiling point because he isn’t making any effort to get another job or to fix their hot tub.
When Gal (Michael Smiley), Jay’s business partner, comes over for a dinner he offers up details on a new job that will offer a big payday. Three assassinations and the two are going home happy. After the first is completed without incident, something happens during the recon stages of the second that turns Jay’s world upside down and his newfound paranoia leads him to a dark and disturbing place.
In all my years of watching movies, there have been very few that have been able to do a complete 180 degree turn in storytelling like the way Ben Wheatley’s Kill List does. What starts out for a long time as your average hitman out of the business flick slowly begins to creep into the realm of “where is this going” purgatory. On the dawn of the second hit, a disturbing tape is found and it flips a switch in Jay’s head. Wheatley leaves the contents of the tape to your imagination, which I believe to be a snuff film, and then has Jay, who is all about clean and quick murders, turn into a savage, making a bloody mess in order to get some answers.
As you watch the film, it becomes difficult not to question the sanity of Jay. He is always getting into fights with his wife and always apologizing to her and his son immediately after. He has love to share but there is a darker, more sinister side to him that, when unlocked during the potential snuff film screening, becomes 
extremely difficult to cage again. This is one of the two roots of the story, the other involves an uncontrollable plot that is much more convoluted and muddled until the final two minutes of the feature. It is this shroud of mystery surrounding the story that keeps your eyes glued to the screen and bring continually guessing as to what might happen next and what it all menas.
There is something to be said about this intelligent piece of British indie cinema. On one hand it may confuse the hell out of you, leaving you pondering with a plethora of questions as to what unfolded in front of your eyes in the final 40 minutes and, on the other hand, you’ll feel disturbed and violated as if you yourself have become the victim of a sadistic plot that involves something along the lines of nude cage fighting to the death. It’s crazy shit but unlike most movies, it will keep you thinking long after you’ve seen the film. Like Inception, it’s a film ripe for discussion and debate while also being very worthy of a second screening.
Was the film good? It depends on the viewer (kind of a copout I know). I for one can’t seem to make my mind up about it. I thought, filmmaking-wise, it was decent but I really need a second viewing to determine its quality. The acting and the film’s score was very respectable and the script was unique amongst most English language thrillers to hit theaters today. The most important question for you would be, is Kill List worth your time? For fans of thrillers or thought provoking pieces of cinema, absolutely!
Kill List will be released on VOD on January 4th from IFC Midnight. You can catch it in select theaters on February 3rd.
Rating: A disturbing but thought provoking thriller that may take two or three viewings to fully comprehend its true value (6.5/10)
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