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Kill List (2011)

Directed by : Ben Wheatley 

4 stars

Eight months after a job in Kiev went wrong, volatile hit-man Jay (Neil Maskell) is under financial pressure from wife Shel to get back to work, so when old partner Gal (Michael Smiley) tells him of a new job, he’s ready to bid farewell to wife and adored son.

Gal is also ready, having just been dumped by his mysterious girlfriend.  There are only three kills on the list, but the first is a priest.  This job is about to get under Jay’s skin in more ways than one.

Using gritty, partly-improvised dialogue, Wheatley introduces us to the characters, establishing all we need to know without ever resorting to obvious exposition.  Jay’s short fuse is plain to see but, even so, the appalling way that he expands the scope of his work during the second hit takes us by surprise.

From then on we are following them on a very rocky path to hell.  What began by looking like a crime thriller becomes a highly effective homage to movies such as The Usual Suspects and The Wicker Man, with scenes that are all its own.  Chilling and shocking and perversely credible.

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