Kill (film)

Kill (also marketed as Kill: This Journey is One-Way) is a 2023 Indian Hindi-language action thriller film written and directed by Nikhil Nagesh Bhat. It is jointly produced by Karan Johar, Guneet Monga, Apoorva Mehta and Achin Jain. The film stars Lakshya, Raghav Juyal, Ashish Vidyarthi, Harsh Chhaya and Tanya Maniktala.

Kill premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on 7 September 2023, where it was first runner-up for the People's Choice Award: Midnight Madness. It was also screened at the Tribeca Film Festival in June 2024. Kill was theatrically released on 5 July 2024, and received positive reviews from critics.

Premise

When army commando Amrit finds out his girlfriend Tulika is engaged against her will, he boards a New Delhi-bound train in a daring quest to derail the arranged marriage. But when a gang of knife-wielding thieves led by the ruthless Fani begins to terrorize innocent passengers on the train, Amrit takes on the thieves in a death-defying spree to save those around him - turning what should have been a typical commute into an adrenaline-fueled thrill ride.

Cast

Cast adapted from Bollywood Hungama

Production

Less than a month prior to its premiere at Toronto, Dharma Productions and Sikhya Entertainment announced the film Kill to be directed by Nikhil Nagesh Bhat, as the first in a content partnership announced in May 2023. In an interview with Subhash K. Jha, the director Nikhil Nagesh Bhat said that the actors had to be trained with MMA artists.

Music

Release

Kill premiered in the Midnight Madness section of the Toronto International Film Festival on 7 September 2023. The film had a theatrical release in India on 5 July 2024. In October 2023, Lionsgate acquired distribution rights to the film for North America and the United Kingdom, marking one of the first instances of a Hollywood studio acquiring a Hindi-language film to directly release in the United States. The film released over 1000 screens across North America. Lionsgate, in association with Roadside Attractions, later scheduled the film for a theatrical release in the United States on 4 July 2024, a day before its release in India. AA Films have reportedly bought the distribution rights for Indian theatrical release. BF Distribution is set to release the film for an Argentina theatrical release on 11 July 2024. Paris Filmes will release the film in Brazilian theaters on September 19, 2024.Paradise Group aquired the distribution rights to release the film under the name of "схватка" in Russian theatres on 25 July 2024

Reception

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 89% of 65 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7/10. The website's consensus reads: "A relentless thrill ride grounded in raw emotional stakes, Kill serves up a knuckle sandwich that action fans will gleefully eat up."

A critic for Bollywood Hungama rated the film 3.5 stars out of 5 and wrote "On the whole, Kill is a violent and stylish action entertainer." Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV gave 3.5/5 stars and expressed "Kill has a moral compass, a clear context for the 'war' that unfolds." Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express stated "‘Kill’ is a lean, mean killing machine." Sukanya Verma of Rediff.com rated 4/5 stars and observed "An ultra-violent film about violence, Kill's greatest accomplishment isn't its death count alone but to challenge our perception of violence". Zinia Bandyopadhyay of India Today awarded the film 4.5/5 stars and wrote "This is an absolute must-watch for all fans of action and otherwise." Shilajit Mitra of The Hindu praised Lakshya's performance and expressed "Lakshya, heavily hyped as Hindi cinema’s new ‘killing machine’, is sweaty, strong and seething. The young actor spurns the athleticism of a Tiger Shroff or Vidyut Jammwal, opting instead for a more centred, abrasive fighting style." Rishil Jogani of Pinkvilla gave 3.5/5 stars and wrote "Kill as a film could work even better with a denser plot and a more dreadful antagonist." Uday Bhatia of Mint observed "Kill isn't really a hell-yeah action film. There’s no slo-mo, no release, no breathing room."

Kill earned international acclaim. Internationally, Kim Newman of British Film Institute stated "The first half isn’t exactly slower, but basic relationships have to be established before the real action can start." Jeannette Catsoulis of The New York Times rated the film R wrote "Manipulative to the max (one upsetting murder is almost pornographically protracted), “Kill” is dizzyingly impressive and punishingly vicious." Catherine Bray of The Guardian opined "Kill’s objectives are achieved with an energy and enthusiasm that make it a tasty piece of action cinema which doesn’t pull its punches; it’s finger-cracking good." Kevin Maher of The Times observed "The plot is painfully perfunctory, and places a lethal “national security guard commando” called Amrit". Nate Richard of Collider rated the film B+ and wrote "Nikhil Nagesh Bhat's aggressively violent action flick is destined to become a cult classic." Peter Debruge of Variety wrote "As brutal a film as the country has ever produced, Kill is a shockingly graphic action showcase from an industry that typically plays violence in a more cartoony register." David Ehrlich of IndieWire rated the film B+ and expressed "“Kill” makes very, very good on its goofy title by the time all is said and done, but perhaps the most surprising thing about Bhat’s action extravaganza is that it inverts expectations without ever getting off-track." Shakyl Lambert of CGMagazine rated 8.5/10 and wrote "Kill is one of the best action films of the year, and action fans need to keep this one on their radar." Matt Donato of /Film rated the film 9 stars out of 10. He also stated "No joyous Bollywood dance interludes — this isn't RRR. Bhat's sublimely savage Kill has more in common with take-no-prisoners Indonesian badassery like The Night Comes for Us or The Raid, accentuating breakneck violence that flows like a gushing river of blood from gaping knife wounds." Ross McIndoe of Slant Magazine rated the film R and wrote "The action is kinetic and chaotic as bodies are sent bouncing off seats, windows, floors, and ceilings." Andrew Mack of Screen Anarchy observed "The violence is not fancy and intricate, but fast and harsh, with a survivor’s instinct at the forefront." Barry Hertz of The Globe and Mail commented "For its first half-hour, Kill’s fights are plentiful if slightly pedestrian in their staging and speed." Jonathan Hickman of Newnan Times-Herald gave 7/10 stars and wrote "By removing much of the heavy firepower associated with guns, Bhat’s film delivers visceral, bone-crunching sequences that have a significant impact despite their relatively overblown nature." Critic Simon Abrams of RogerEbert.com gave a mixed review and wrote "Kill tics off most of the essential boxes for a good popcorn flick, making it easy to resist but harder to pass up."

Remake

On July 1, 2024, three days prior to Kill's North American theatrical release, Lionsgate and 87Eleven Entertainment, which have previously collaborated on the John Wick franchise, announced an English-language remake of the film.

References

External links

• Kill at IMDb
• Kill at Rotten Tomatoes