Zazie Beetz Horror Movie 'They Will Kill You' Cuts Violence

Zazie Beetz Is Too Likable: 'They Will Kill You' Tones Down Its 'Extreme' Violence

Director Kirill Sokolov says test audiences were so distressed by the treatment of Beetz’s character that he had to scale back the horror movie's brutality.

Sofia Chen

Mar 26, 2026, 10:03 PM PT · 2 min read

Brianna Hildebrand Stefan Kapičić Zazie Beetz Ryan Reynolds — Photo: Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America / CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons

THE RUNDOWN

Director Kirill Sokolov reduced violence in 'They Will Kill You' due to audience feedback.
Zazie Beetz stars as Asia Reaves, a woman searching for her missing sister.
Audiences found 'extreme' brutality against Beetz's character too upsetting because she is likable.
Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema are producing the high-rise horror film.
The project is produced by 'It' filmmakers Andy and Barbara Muschietti.

Director Kirill Sokolov is making some major cuts to his upcoming horror film, They Will Kill You, but not for the reasons you might think. During a recent industry presentation, the filmmaker revealed that test audiences found the violence inflicted upon star Zazie Beetz to be far too extreme. Because Beetz is so "likable" on screen, viewers reportedly felt protective of her character, Asia Reaves, forcing the production to scale back the brutality.

The Warner Bros. Pictures and New Line Cinema project follows Asia as she takes a job at a mysterious, elite high-rise building in New York City. While her primary goal is to find her missing sister, she quickly discovers that the residents are hiding a dark, deadly secret. Sokolov noted that while his original vision was much more visceral, the audience's emotional connection to Beetz made the intense scenes feel unnecessarily cruel rather than thrilling.

Zazie Beetz Ryan Reynolds — Photo: Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America / CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons

This tonal shift underscores the impact of star power in the horror genre. Zazie Beetz, known for her roles in Joker and Deadpool 2, brings a natural charisma that fundamentally changed the way test viewers processed the film's scares. They Will Kill You is produced by Andy Muschietti and Barbara Muschietti under their Nocturna label, and while the gore is being dialed back, the studio promises plenty of high-stakes suspense for the final cut.