Inside Its Show-Stopping Action Sequences

The year may be young, but Kirill Sokolov and Zazie Beetz’s “flaming axe” sequence in They Will Kill You is likely going to contend for action set piece of the year.

The Russian physicist turned filmmaker first got Tinseltown’s attention with his 2018 feature debut, Why Don’t You Just Die!, after it won several awards at Fantasia in 2019. He stuck around Russia for his sophomore outing, No Looking Back (2021), before taking the plunge and moving to Los Angeles for greener pastures in the major studio system. Sokolov eventually linked up with screenwriter Alex Litvak, and they collaborated on the script that would become They Will Kill You. 

The action horror-comedy chronicles ex-con Asia Reaves (Beetz), who assumes a false identity in order to pose as a newly hired housekeeper at New York City’s mysterious residential building, the Virgil. Andy and Barbara Muschietti (It franchise, The Flash) became early champions of Sokolov and Litvak’s screenplay and set it up at New Line Cinema under their then-brand new Nocturna banner. 

As revealed in the marketing, Asia is really squaring off against a Satanic cult led by Irish superintendent, Lilith Woodhouse (Patricia Arquette). The overall premise is based on Sokolov and his wife’s tenancy at a Russian apartment building a decade ago. Their experience somehow had shades of the Bramford in Rosemary’s Baby and Ellen Burstyn’s character’s apartment in Requiem for a Dream.

“We very quickly realized that we were the only two people who were younger than 65. Most of the other tenants were lonely old ladies. They would feed wild cats all day long, and every time you’d leave or come back, they’d gossip about you and discuss you,” Sokolov tells The Hollywood Reporter. “This tension grew and grew, and my wife and I started to joke that it’s a cult that would come for us at some point. So that’s where the inspiration came for [They Will Kill You].”

Asia’s fateful duel begins late at night when a cultist sneaks into her living quarters through a secret hole in the wall. This story point also originated at the Sokolovs’ former Russian flat. During a kitchen remodel, Sokolov discovered a hole that led to his neighbor’s apartment à la Rosemary’s Baby’s twist. “It happened so long ago that I totally forgot about it until I watched Rosemary’s Baby three years ago. Nobody walked into our apartment, but they could have,” Sokolov adds. “That’s how it ended up in [They Will Kill You].”

Asia’s grueling night of battle leads to the aforementioned flaming axe scene, and when Sokolov initially expressed interest in designing the blazing action practically, his responsible producers rightfully suggested otherwise. But the writer-director persisted until his talented stunt team found a way to pull it off safely. For example, costumes had to be recreated using more fire-retardant fabrics, and Beetz’s famous head of hair needed its own precautionary measures.

“Zazie had a huge haircut, and any spark would leave a hole in her hair. So we built a fireproof wig to protect her real hair,” Sokolov says.

Below, during a conversation with THR, Sokolov also discusses his journey to the States around the time of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as well as John Wick’s unavoidable influence on his genre tale.

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To start with a question I’ve never asked before, how does a Russian physicist become a filmmaker? 

I think my father still questions my life choices. I was always a movie fan. I’ve watched movies my entire life, and I had walls of VHS tapes that covered my room. But I came from a family that had nothing in common with movies. And growing up, the idea that you can actually try and make movies yourself never lands. It feels like it’s very different people in a different reality. 

But during my university years, I somehow started to make short movies with my friends for fun. There were no scripts, and we made exploitation-style films with ketchup and chicken guts. Troma was a big North Star for our style, basically. Then the hobby grew over time, and instead of going for a PhD, I decided to become a full-time filmmaker. 

What I find interesting about your work is that you aren’t governed by real-world physics. If a character is shot with a gun, you’ll launch them much farther than they would actually go. Do you often choose entertainment value over the laws of physics?

Absolutely. I do the opposite. It’s almost like a protest from what I learned for so long. So there’s no laws of physics in any story I’m telling.

Your 2018 feature debut, Why Don’t You Just Die!, made some waves here in the States. What happened from there? 

That was an incredibly strange sequence of events. We released it, and I had a lot of struggle in Russia because that movie is very controversial. It throws shit on the fan in terms of political and social aspects. Outside of Russia, we basically sold it to every country. We had this amazing festival run with unbelievable reviews, and the movie fought for its life to be seen and recognized. So that was the turning point. Agents from CAA and managers immediately reached out to me, and I started to discuss projects in Hollywood. That movie made it all real, and that’s why I’m sitting here right now.

Did Andy and Barbara Muschietti find out about you from Why Don’t You Just Die!?

No, they later found me through the They Will Kill You script. I made another feature [2021’s No Looking Back], and then I moved to L.A. with the idea of trying to make my Hollywood debut. I developed multiple projects, but as you know, it’s so hard to launch a movie. You’ll get a project, and then it can get stuck in development for a million different reasons. I’ll try to push one forward — and then a second and third one with different studios — but it just didn’t work out. I was very desperate. 

And by luck, I met Alex Litvak, who became my close friend and co-writer. I pitched him this idea [for They WIll Kill You], and he loved it. I said, “Let’s try to write it. ” I love writing. I wrote all my previous movies. So we wrote it together, and suddenly, people just loved the script. Barbara and Andy were among the first producers we showed it to, and they really believed in it.

There’s been a lot of chaos and conflict throughout the world. Russia-Ukraine is one such example. Did you face any obstacles when you decided to move to the States to work? 

I was able to come and work, but I had a really strange story because both of my movies were questionable in terms of the reaction inside Russia. Also, my mom is Ukrainian, and I made a couple of statements that put me in a position to not be very welcomed inside of Russia. So it was a whole process. Frankly, I never thought that I would immigrate. I never thought that I would move anywhere. 

But I dreamed about going to Hollywood and making a Hollywood movie with the resources to do more. It’s an industry where you can achieve a lot of ideas and creative decisions. When you do low-budget movies [in Russia], you struggle. It was still a struggle to move here and launch a project. But at the same time, if it works out, you know that you will have the best time of your life.

Once the Muschiettis saw Why Don’t You Just Die!, they must have appreciated the fact that the main character wears a t-shirt with a Michael Keaton-Batman logo the whole time. Did you ever ask Andy questions about his time with Michael Keaton’s Batman?

Yes, I asked, but I am not sure that I can talk about his experience with Michael Keaton. I basically asked Andy about every single project he’s done and every single piece of knowledge he has. Working with filmmakers like that, you need to use that chance to grab what you can. They can teach you a lot of secrets of the craft, so I use Andy very selfishly.

Did they have any notes that you applied to the script? 

We discussed the characters and dug deeper into relationship stuff. But what worried me the most is that this movie shifts genres and has a very specific tone. And when you deal with a genre mashup, it can be challenging for studios and producers. They’ll say, “How are we going to explain to the audience what kind of movie this is? How are we going to sell it? Should we just put it in one simple box?” That’s a classic case for what happens with these types of projects. But in my case, I was so lucky to have Andy and Barbara. They appreciated the unpredictable voice of this movie, and because they believed in it, they didn’t want to change any aspect of that.

The film’s central location of The Virgil is based on a Russian apartment building you lived in at one point? 

Yeah, I lived there ten years ago. My wife and I moved into this apartment, and we very quickly realized that we were the only two people who were younger than 65. Most of the other tenants were lonely old ladies. It was a very specific group of people. This is a very Russian thing, but all these ladies would sit on these benches in front of the building’s entrance. They would feed wild cats all day long, and every time you’d leave or come back, they’d gossip about you and discuss you. They’d be like, “Why are you so late? Where are you going?” You’d hear it [behind you]. So this tension grew and grew, and my wife and I started to joke that it’s a cult that would come for us at some point. So that’s where the inspiration came for [They Will Kill You].  

What’s funny is that I [eventually] did a remodel in the kitchen, and I found a hole behind the kitchen cabinet that led to my neighbor’s apartment. It happened so long ago that I totally forgot about it until I watched Rosemary’s Baby three years ago. In that movie, the closet had a secret doorway to the neighbor’s apartment. And I was like, “Wait a second, that’s exactly like our apartment.” Nobody walked into our apartment, but they could have. So I told Alex about it, and that’s how it ended up in the movie.

Given the varied tone, what movies did you and your crew watch as references? 

I had specific lists for every head of department and all my cast members. I also had separate lists for my DP Isaac Bauman and my production designer Jeremy Reed. One of the biggest references for this film is the anime Afro Samurai. The story starts on a pretty grounded note, but as it progresses, it just becomes crazier and crazier. So I wanted to change the visual language and style of it to feel and look crazier as the story gets crazier. We start from a classic, almost Rosemary’s Baby type of story, and then we take left turns into Kill Bill reality and Sam Raimi reality. Then that goes even further into full anime/Afro Samurai reality. So it was an interesting progression to play with, and we tried to make each transition smooth and invisible.

You have the same publicist as Chad Stahelski, so I’m assuming you’re a John Wick fan. Was that another reference since they have their own mythic building known as the Continental? 

Yeah, that movie is so big in terms of cultural influence that you can’t avoid it. If you think about modern action movies, that’s the first movie you go to. I know all those fights by heart. I grew up on old Hong Kong action movies, and I love when you see everything. I love when you use wide shots, and you make your actual cast members do the fight. And that’s what I appreciate from John Wick. When you see Keanu Reeves actually do the choreography, it gives you so much belief. So, of course, it was a huge reference for us.

There’s an element of this film that is not revealed in the trailers. Did you ask the marketing department to not give that secret away?

It was a big discussion. It’s not that I asked, but it was a whole conversation and dialogue about how much we should give away. We needed to hook the audience. We needed to attract them, but then you also want to keep some surprises. This movie builds up some expectations, and then it tricks you by going in the opposite direction. Then it builds up another expectation, and then it tricks you again. It was very important to ask ourselves, “At what point do we stop giving information away? What do we want to save to have as a big surprise?” So we withheld that, and I’m very happy. 

When we released the trailer, I tried not to read comments, but I couldn’t help it. I dived into this vortex of pain and sadness. (Laughs.) I’d read comments that said, “Oh, they showed us the entire movie in the trailer.” And I thought, Guys, no, just trust me. We didn’t show you the whole movie. Just go and see it. But it is what it is. When people go to the cinemas to watch it fully, I hope the word of mouth will help.

The film is R-rated given its over-the-top violence and gore. Did you ever get close to an NC-17 rating?

Maybe this discussion passed me by, but I never heard that we were ever close. This movie is very bloody, but I don’t think that it’s very disturbing. The violence is very stylized and a little bit cartoonish. It’s fun, and it’s never painful or ugly. So I don’t think it ever really hit that rating.

There’s an incredible sequence where Zazie Beetz’s character fights cultists with a flaming axe. How did you pull it off practically? 

During the first read of the script, we started the [practical] conversation with our producers, especially our line producer. And [EP] Carl Hampe was like, “Dude, there’s no way we’re going to do it with real fire. There is no way. Nobody does that anymore. It’s too expensive and too dangerous. No.” You can make very believable [digital] fire now, but real heat and real danger makes people behave differently. There’s a tension that you can’t simulate. So I have to give a huge thank you to our amazing stunt crew, including Kerry Gregg, our stunt coordinator, and Russ McCarroll, our fight coordinator. 

The entire movie was storyboarded including this scene. We went beat by beat and were like, “Okay, how can we make it safe? What kind of texture are the cloaks?” We couldn’t use the same cloak material that we used in the other parts of the movie. We had to find a different, stronger fabric that would look the same, but wouldn’t turn the cloaks into melted fucking candles. So we figured that out. Then we had to have seven versions of the axe. There was a soft one that didn’t melt, and there were real metal axes that were sharp and not sharp. Zazie also had a huge haircut, and any spark would leave a hole in her hair. So we built a fireproof wig to protect her real hair.

We moved step by step, and just when we thought we solved all the problems, more problems arose. But we prepared so much [during pre-production] that when we got to the actual shooting process, those four shooting days became the easiest four days throughout the entire process. We knew exactly what we were doing in every single moment, and the result is incredible. You feel that it’s all real and practical, and that’s why it’s so cool.

Did that sequence get the biggest pop at last night’s South by Southwest premiere?

I think so. It works on some kind of different level that you can’t process with your brain. It’s so visceral and emotional. I was inside of this filmmaking process for three years, and at a certain point, you stop seeing it as a movie. You just see it as beats. But yesterday, I finally saw it through the eyes of the audience and listened to their reactions. I tried to understand some things about this movie and the way that scene works. It builds up and builds up, and then we have a moment when she crushes a guy seven times. You, as the audience, think, Okay, this is the climax. But then she stands up with explosions in the background, and they’re like, Oh, this is the climax. She then flies in the air. So it just worked out so well. 

I’m assuming there are other locations like the Virgil around the globe, but do you think there’s more story to tell in the world of They Will Kill You? 

Oh yeah. First of all, the nature of this world is that everyone [spoiler], so there are a lot of stories to tell about the characters. I just love this world and these characters. I’ve lived with them for so long that I really don’t want to let them go. I want to go back and tell more stories.

This movie will probably land you some meetings for action and/or horror franchises. Is there one in particular that you’d jump at the chance to join?

Yeah, there are a couple. Of course, I’m a huge fan of John Wick. That’s an extremely awesome franchise. But if the story is awesome and the characters grab me, then I’d look less at the brand and more at the possibilities I have to work on as a storyteller.

Decades from now, when you look back on They Will Kill You, what day will you likely recall first?

Oh, that’s an interesting question. Yesterday was the culmination of this journey. I was so overwhelmed with good emotions, and I could hardly process them because it was too much for me. We all put so much effort and love and passion and our health into this movie. We did something risky and strange and different and original. That’s always high risk, and I was very worried. So, yesterday, when we premiered this movie with this amazing audience, people reacted in the right places. They reacted where they were supposed to react with very loud screams and laughs and giggles and just concern for the characters. I then had this realization that some choices were made correctly, and I felt so good and so proud about it. That unique feeling is why we make movies. When you somehow manage to give 90 minutes of joy and fun to a crowd of strangers in a dark room, that’s the biggest reward you can get.

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They Will Kill You opens March 27 in movie theaters.