Hit Man: Glen Powell and Richard Linklater deconstruct the perception of contract killers in the trailer for the new Netflix film

Last Updated on January 24, 2024

Glen Powell’s star is on the rise since his fun, antagonistic performance in 2022’s Top Gun: Maverick. You can currently see him steaming up the screen with Sydney Sweeney in Anyone But You, plus he’s due to chase storms in the semi-sequel Twisters, and you can also now get a look at him in the new Richard Linklater film, Hit Man. While the generic-sounding title seemingly leads you to a kind of film you think you may have seen already, much like the similarly titled The Killer from David Fincher that starred Michael Fassbender as a hitman, the trailer is actually mysteriously an upbeat, fun romp with loads of critical praise plastered throughout. Glen Powell stars in the film as well as co-writing the screenplay with director Richard Linklater.

The trailer has been released from Netflix and the synopsis reads,
“A mild-mannered psychology professor (Glen Powell) interested in electronics takes a sideline bugging undercover cops in sting operations, specializing in setting up phony hits. When the usual undercover guy is suspended, he’s enlisted to pose as a hitman. He turns out to be a natural at undercover work, with the police using him to entrap people taking out contracts. Things get complicated when he falls for an abused wife (Adria Arjona) wanting to take out her husband.”

According to Entertainment Weekly, “Hit Man is based on a 2001Texas Monthly article by Skip Hollandsworth, whose journalism previously inspired another Linklater movie, Bernie.” Linklater told EW, “I asked Skip, ‘Is it true?’ And he goes, ‘There’s never been a case of someone arrested for being a hitman.’ That was 2001, so I have followed really closely over the years. Whenever I see an article about someone getting arrested for taking out a hit, I check it, and it’s always another person getting arrested by an undercover officer. But no one ever figures out from there that hitmen don’t exist.” Linklater remarked on what set his film apart from other contract killer movies, “We deconstruct the hitman film. Isn’t that funny? Those films are basically crime dramas, but we’re the one based on real events — and we’re a comedy!”

Our own Chris Bumbray glowed about this movie in his film review from the Toronto International Film Festival, saying, “Notably, despite being a movie about killing, the film is pretty non-violent and charming. If there was ever a feel-good movie to be made about murder-for-hire, this is it.” You can read the rest of his review HERE.

Hit Man is set to premiere on Netflix in select countries on Friday, June 7, after a limited theatrical release.