They Will Kill You Promises Blood, Laughter and Cultish Chaos from Andy and Barbara Muschietti
The Muschietti siblings, Andy and Barbara, are back to shake up horror again, and this time they are not just dabbling in demons or killer clowns — they are building a whole new playground for them. The filmmaking duo behind Mama and the billion dollar It adaptations have launched their new horror label, Nocturna, in partnership with Skydance, and the first cinematic offering from this fresh venture is the wonderfully titled They Will Kill You. The film, which will be co-financed and distributed by New Line Cinema, hits theatres on March 27, 2026, and promises an unholy cocktail of cults, chaos, and comedy.
If the name alone is not enough to grab you, the premise should do the trick. Zazie Beetz (Joker, Bullet Train, Deadpool 2) stars as a woman who answers a help wanted ad to become a housekeeper in a strange high-rise in New York City. It sounds like the setup for a cosy urban drama, until you discover that the building’s residents have a nasty habit of disappearing and that the tenants may be part of a Satanic cult. Think Rosemary’s Baby meets The Raid, but with more sarcasm and probably a lot more cleaning supplies.
Beetz leads a gloriously eclectic cast. Patricia Arquette (True Romance) plays the head of the co-op, which sounds suspiciously like the kind of management role that comes with robes and chanting. Tom Felton, best known as the formerly wand-wielding Draco Malfoy, joins as a card-carrying cultist, while Heather Graham (Boogie Nights, Suitable Flesh) and Myha’la (Bodies Bodies Bodies) round out the stellar ensemble.
Described as a “tonal mix of Ready or Not and The Raid,” They Will Kill You seems set to combine the frantic survival energy of an action movie with the wicked humour of a black comedy. Directing duties fall to Kirill Sokolov, the Russian filmmaker behind Why Don’t You Just Die! and No Looking Back. If you have seen either of those films, you know Sokolov has a knack for turning carnage into slapstick and bloodshed into punchlines. He co-wrote the script with Alex Litvak, who previously penned Predators and The Three Musketeers. Between them, they have the kind of résumé that practically guarantees a mix of guts, guns, and giggles.
The Muschiettis are producing the film alongside David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, Don Granger, and Dan Kagan, with Nocturna’s co-heads Russell Ackerman and John Schoenfelder serving as executive producers. Sokolov, Litvak, and Carl Hampe also take on executive producing duties, making this a collaborative effort between seasoned genre veterans and gleeful agents of cinematic mayhem.
Speaking with Deadline, Barbara Muschietti revealed that They Will Kill You came together at lightning speed. “We read the screenplay in December 2023,” she said, “and had it in production by the following September. We shot it in South Africa last year and are very much near the finish line. It is a lot of fun. It is horror, comedy, and action in equal measure — something people will walk out of with a smile on their face, and it is what the world needs right now.”
It is refreshing to hear a producer describe a film called They Will Kill You as something that will make audiences smile. But if you have followed the Muschiettis’ careers, that makes perfect sense. Their work has always balanced fear and warmth, heart and horror, often within the same blood-spattered frame. After turning Stephen King’s It into a cultural juggernaut and giving us one of the more tender haunted-house stories in Mama, they have earned the right to go a little mad with their own horror label.
The creation of Nocturna marks a fascinating new chapter for the pair. Teaming up with Skydance allows them to develop original genre films without the constraints of existing franchises, and They Will Kill You looks like the perfect statement of intent. It promises not only tension and brutality but also a sly sense of humour — the kind that creeps up on you between screams.
So mark your calendars for March 2026, polish your high-rise horror theories, and prepare to question every “help wanted” ad you see. With They Will Kill You, the Muschiettis and Sokolov are bringing blood, laughter, and devilish charm back to the multiplex. And if Barbara Muschietti is right, you might even walk out of the cinema grinning — assuming you survive the cult meeting first.
