hitman movie review 2023

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People like to speak about a golden era of movies—the precise dimensions of which often shift based on the generation of the speaker—when Hollywood made products that were sexier, smarter, and just generally better. Richard Linklater ’s “Hit Man” is for them.

Like its protagonist’s ability to basically change identities depending on the situation, it’s a film that knows what its clients need, shifting from comedy to romance to thriller to a philosophical study of the human capacity to change. It’s one of the smartest films in years, a movie that’s reminiscent of everything from classic noir to the smooth delivery of Steven Soderbergh ’s “ Out of Sight ” in its willingness to be damn sexy and morally complex at the same time. Don’t miss this one.

Very loosely based on a true story, “Hit Man” stars Glen Powell (who also co-wrote this stellar script with Linklater) as Gary Johnson, a New Orleans-based professor who has been assisting the police department with menial tasks like planting bugs and connecting wires in the surveillance van. When a slimy undercover agent named Jasper ( Austin Amelio ) gets suspended for 120 days for some violence involving teenagers—one gets the impression it probably should have been much longer—Gary is forced to step in and improvise on the job. It turns out he’s really good at it, convincing a sleazebag named Craig ( Mike Markoff ) that he’s a professional killer by detailing his technique when it comes to body disposal. Gary’s colleagues (memorably played by Retta and Sanjay Rao ) suggest that the mild-mannered cat lover and bird watcher should be their new undercover hit man.

Gary takes his new assignment very seriously, researching the people asking for a murder for hire in a way that makes them more likely to hand over the money. His ability to shape himself into the right man for the job could even be read as a bit of a meta-commentary on acting itself—he’s playing dress up, but he’s also doing the same kind of research and character work that Powell himself has done for dozens of roles. And, of course, Gary’s personality gamesmanship reflects his teachings about philosophy, not only in how his background allows him to read people but in how the different characters change Gary himself.

And that’s when Ron enters the picture. When Madison ( Adria Arjona ) tries to hire a hit man, she meets Ron (aka Gary) in a diner called the Please U Café—like so many choices in Powell & Linklater’s blindingly smart script, even that name doesn’t seem accidental. Ron listens to her story about her abusive husband, Ray, and he makes the sudden decision to save Madison from herself. Take the money you were going to spend on murder and start a new life. It’s only one of many beats in the back half of “Hit Man” that’s a bit morally ambiguous. What if Madison just goes and hires someone else, and someone ends up dead? So much of what follows, as Ron/Gary and Madison begin a romantic relationship, will have viewers wondering what they’re supposed to be rooting for to happen next.

That’s part of the unpredictable brilliance of “Hit Man.” So many movies telegraph their plot twists and underline their moral messages. “Hit Man” does none of that. If you asked a dozen people to guess where it was going at the halfway mark, or even where they want it to go, you’d get 12 different answers. Linklater & Powell’s script constantly stays one step ahead of the viewers, making us eager to see what happens next and often surprised by what unfolds. I’m not sure it all adds up without loose plot threads, but it’s so wildly entertaining to take this twisting journey that it doesn’t matter.

It’s also sexy as Hell. The first scene between Powell and Arjona feels like a bolt of lightning, given how rarely we see actual screen chemistry in modern movies. Hey, look, it’s two people being movie stars . Their instant chemistry becomes the foundation for the back half of the movie as what was kind of a goofy comedy shifts more into thriller and even noir, genres that allow for a bit of moral ambiguity. Without spoiling, “Hit Man” goes to some pretty daring places narratively where other filmmakers and studios would have headed for more predictable moral waters. “Hit Man” recalls noirs and thrillers in which we rooted for the leads to get away with relatively heinous acts in the name of entertainment and didn't think about the repercussions.

That last thought might make “Hit Man” seem like little more than a lark. It’s not. This film will be underrated in its complexity, a study of how easy it is to become what we pretend we are. It’s about how we like to define people by their jobs, or even if they’re a cat or dog person, but one of the great things about humanity is our ability to surprise even ourselves. (Powell is SO good at selling the improvised choices that Gary makes in a way that's essential to the film's success.) It’s a deceptively well-made flick that appears to be Linklater in little more than his “let’s have fun” mode. But it can’t keep one of the smartest filmmakers of his generation from elevating everything that this movie is trying to do with remarkable depth.

The truth about “Hit Man” is that the golden era people long for would have made this movie a smash, the kind of hit that turns Glen Powell and Adria Arjona into household names. That's what I miss in that I sometimes wonder if some of my favorite movies of the past would even be noticed by the content algorithm in 2024. This one is getting a brief theatrical run before landing on Netflix, where good films too often get buried. Don’t let that happen here. Or they really won’t make this kind of movie anymore.

In limited theatrical release tomorrow, May 24 th . On Netflix on June 7 th .

Brian Tallerico

Brian Tallerico is the Managing Editor of RogerEbert.com, and also covers television, film, Blu-ray, and video games. He is also a writer for Vulture, The Playlist, The New York Times, and GQ, and the President of the Chicago Film Critics Association.

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Film credits.

Hit Man (2024)

115 minutes

Glen Powell as Gary Johnson

Adria Arjona as Madison 'Maddy' Masters

Austin Amelio as Jasper

Retta as Claudette

Sanjay Rao as Phil

Molly Bernard as Alicia

Richard Linklater
Glen Powell
Skip Hollandsworth

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Glen Powell and Adria Arjona in Hit Man (2023)

A professor moonlighting as a hit man of sorts for his city police department, descends into dangerous, dubious territory when he finds himself attracted to a woman who enlists his services. A professor moonlighting as a hit man of sorts for his city police department, descends into dangerous, dubious territory when he finds himself attracted to a woman who enlists his services. A professor moonlighting as a hit man of sorts for his city police department, descends into dangerous, dubious territory when he finds himself attracted to a woman who enlists his services.

Richard Linklater
Glen Powell
Skip Hollandsworth
Adria Arjona
Austin Amelio
377 User reviews
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82 Metascore
1 win & 4 nominations

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Gary Johnson

Madison Figueroa Masters

Sergeant Hank

Burlesque Dancer

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Glen Powell Won't Share His Popcorn With You

Why Glen Powell Won't Share Popcorn With You During 'Hit Man'

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Trivia The real-life Gary Johnson passed away early on in production and never got to see the film. Richard Linklater only talked to him on the phone, and never got to meet him in person.
Goofs It is not explained why an "undercover" police agent's identity is not protected.

Gary Johnson : Seize the identity you want for yourself.

Connections Featured in WatchMojo: Top 10 Movies of 2024 So Far (2024)
Soundtracks New Orleans Bump Performed by Jelly Roll Morton Written by Ferdinand Morton Courtesy of RCA Records By arrangement with Sony Music Entertainment

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Jun 8, 2024
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June 7, 2024 (United States)
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New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
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Runtime 1 hour 55 minutes
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‘Hit Man’ Review: It’s a Hit, Man

Glen Powell stars in one of the year’s funniest, sexiest, most enjoyable movies — and somehow it’s surprisingly deep, too.

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A woman with long brown hair leans her chin on the shoulder of a man wearing a leather jacket.

By Alissa Wilkinson

If I see a movie more delightful than “Hit Man” this year, I’ll be surprised. It’s the kind of romp people are talking about when they say that “they don’t make them like they used to”: It’s romantic, sexy, hilarious, satisfying and a genuine star-clinching turn for Glen Powell, who’s been having a moment for about two years now. It’s got the cheeky verve of a 1940s screwball rom-com in a thoroughly contemporary (and slightly racier) package. I’ve seen it twice, and a huge grin plastered itself across my face both times.

That’s why it’s a shame most people will see it at home — Netflix is barely giving it a theatrical release before it hits streaming even though it’s the sort of movie that begs for the experience of collective gut-splitting joy. Oh well. If you can see it in a theater, it’s worth it. If not, then get your friends together, pop some popcorn and settle in for a good old-fashioned movie for grown-ups.

The director Richard Linklater and Powell collaborated on the “Hit Man” script, which is loosely based on Skip Hollandsworth’s 2001 Texas Monthly article about Gary Johnson, a faux hit man who actually worked for the Houston Police Department. In the movie version, Gary (Powell) is a mild-mannered philosophy professor in New Orleans with a part-time side gig doing tech work for law enforcement. One day, he is accidentally pulled into pretending to be a hit man in a sting operation, and soon realizes he loves playing the role.

Or roles, really: The more Gary gets into it, the more he realizes that each person’s fantasy of a hit man is different, and he starts to dress up, preparing for the part before he meets with the client. (If this movie were solely constructed as a de facto reel demonstrating Powell’s range, it would work just fine.) Then, one day, pretending to be a sexy, confident hit man named Ron, he meets Madison (Adria Arjona, practically glowing from within), a put-upon housewife seeking his services. And everything changes for Gary.

A great deal of the enjoyment of “Hit Man” comes from simply witnessing Powell and Arjona’s white-hot chemistry. Seeing Powell transmogrify from nerdy Gary to five o’clock shadow Ron and back again is both hilarious and tantalizing, while Arjona has a big-eyed innocence crossed with wily smarts that keeps everyone, including Gary, guessing. Multiple layers of deception keep the movie from feeling formulaic — you’re always trying to keep track of who thinks what, and why. Eventually, when “Hit Man” morphs into a kind of caper comedy, part of the joy is rooting for characters as they make choices that are, at best, flexibly ethical. In doing so, we get to be naughty too. In a movie starring a philosophy professor, that’s especially funny, a wry joke on us all.

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‘Hit Man’ Review: Richard Linklater’s Fun True-Life Lark Stars Glen Powell as a Dweeb Who Goes Undercover as a Contract Killer

Glen Powell rules as Gary, a part-time teacher who discovers he's great at impersonating a hit man.

By Owen Gleiberman

Owen Gleiberman

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Is it something in the air? At this year’s Venice Film Festival, the unofficial theme appears to be hit men. David Fincher’s “The Killer” is all about an icy methodical professional executioner. Woody Allen’s “Coup de Chance” turns on an act of murder-for-hire. And now, just in time to steal the buzz from both those movies, we have Richard Linklater ’s “ Hit Man ,” a screwball philosophical thriller comedy noir about the world’s unlikeliest undercover agent. He’s a one-of-a-kind movie hero, though in more ways than not he’s just like us.

Reviewed at Venice Film Festival, Sept. 4, 2023. Running time: 113 MIN.

Production: A Barnstorm Co., Aggregate Films, Detour Film production, in association with Cinetic Media. Producers: Mike Blizzard, Richard Linklater, Glen Powell, Jason Bateman, Michael Costigan.
Crew: Director: Richard Linklater. Screenplay: Richard Linklater, Glen Powell. Camera: Shane F. Kelly. Editor: Sandra Adair. Music: Graham Reynolds.
With: Glen Powell, Adria Arjona, Austin Amelio, Retta, Molly Bernard.

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'Hit Man' review: Richard Linklater delivers the year's most killer comedy

Glen Powell stars in Richard Linklater's "Hit Man."

"Gary Johnson" seems like the kind of unassuming name a screenwriter might make up for someone content in his mundane routine. It's the perfect name for the character Glen Powell plays in Hit Man , the film he wrote alongside director Richard Linklater, which introduces us to Johnson as a smiling, simple, slightly dorky psychology teacher at a New Orleans high school. Gary lives alone with his two cats named Id and Ego, and on occasion, he assists the local police with tech troubleshooting for their surveillance equipment, which one day leads to him taking on a role that runs completely counter to his personality: an undercover assassin.

But, as with the protagonist in Linklater's 2011 mortician romance Bernie , Gary is also a real person. Like Bernie Tiede , Gary Johnson was the subject of a Texas Monthly longform feature by Skip Hollandsworth, and Linklater's note-perfect comedy-thriller is based on his real life — sort of.

What's the story of Hit Man?

Adria Arjona and Glen Powell in "Hit Man."

Billing itself as a "somewhat true story" in its opening text (and clarifying its embellishments at the end), Hit Man adapts the aforementioned profile piece — a riveting read that calls him "the Laurence Olivier" of his field — but it imagines a more detailed inner life for the elusive faux-contract killer and, more importantly, concocts an absurd series of events on par with the Coen brothers' Fargo . While it begins with a bog-standard, fish-out-of-water premise, it soon spirals into an enormously funny, multilayered film about romance, passion, identity, and the way love and lust warp people's perspective, driving them to do crazy things.

At times, it's a comedic high-wire act, with scenes so simultaneously hilarious and tightly wound that its Venice Film Festival press screening was rife with regular applause breaks. Rightly so: It's nothing short of a perfect crowd-pleaser, with another star-making turn from Powell, who's as ridiculous and silly in the movie as he is charming and debonair.

While it initially seems like Powell is over-qualified for the part— Hollywood's knack for casting model-pretty actors as self-effacing everymen is well-known; it was even a meta-joke in Barbie — it soon becomes clear what kind of comedic and dramatic chops the role requires (not to mention charisma). As the movie's co-writer, Powell knows the character inside out, so when Gary is introduced to us via voiceover, he knows just how to modulate his voice. It's slightly overzealous, though not too overbearing; it has a bubbliness to it, but without sounding naïve.

Despite his occasional idiosyncrasies, like his affinity for regaling disinterested coworkers with stories about birdwatching, Gary is the most "regular" regular guy on his covert police squad, led by the grimy, lanky Jasper (Austin Amelio), a dirty cop who's just been suspended for excessive force. Jasper was also the squad's undercover hitman, and in his sudden absence, the insecure, jorts-wearing Gary is thrown into the field, forced to trade in his wire-frame glasses for a wire when he sits down with a prospective client looking to bump off an enemy. However, beyond all expectations, he's a perfect fit, embodying a commanding ruthlessness while guiding his suspects to incriminating statements in increasingly strange and disturbing ways — in character, of course.

It's a comedic wallop of an inciting incident, thrilling and airtight, and it quickly leads to Gary becoming a rising star at this particular (and peculiar) job. Soon, he begins concocting numerous aliases with their own distinct costumes, nationalities, and backstories, which he tailors to each individual client looking to have their rival or significant other killed, making his preparation akin to something like crafting a dating profile, and turning each meeting into a unique, absurd seduction. However, the metaphor soon collides with itself when Gary is smitten with a troubled client, Madison (Adria Arjona), who seems desperate to get out of a bad situation.

You can see the writing on the wall from miles away, even if you can't fully decipher it — but on some level, you're hoping the characters will give in to their most misguided instincts just to see what happens. Gary beginning an affair with a suspect is a bad idea, made all the more complicated by the fact that he continues to conceal his real identity behind the guise of a suave hitman, Ron. This character starts to take on a life of his own, and before long, Gary's seduction becomes a self-seduction of sorts, as he grows more tempted to fully step into Ron's shoes and live Ron's life, leading to a multi-layered labyrinth of splendidly awkward situations and escalating possibilities.

Glen Powell delivers a charming powerhouse performance.

What actor wouldn't write themselves a role where they try on a dozen different wigs and accents? Powell channels everyone from existing pop culture murderers to Tilda Swinton in his unhinged roleplaying, and each part is funnier and more committed than the last. However, the movie's real substance (both comedic and dramatic) lies in the carefully constructed Ron, the only one of Gary's characters who isn't a one-and-done.

As a psychology teacher, he's prone to giving lectures about identity and morality that just so happen to inform what's going on in the story — a narrative convenience that's more than forgivable, since Gary's shifting character is reflected not just by these expository explanations of theme, but also by the manner in which he delivers them. The fact that he's slowly transforming into Ron is a foregone conclusion; he concocts Ron from a place of inadequacy in the first place, like his own Tyler Durden. Watching Powell chart what ought to be a familiar course is a delight in and of itself.

His chemistry with the doe-eyed Arjona radiates off the screen, in both flirtatious and steamy moments, resulting in a physical and emotional dynamic likely to increase any theater's temperature at least a few degrees; it's as sexy as it is fun. This also results in a seduction of the audience. There's barely a moment, as there usually is with a comedy of errors, where you're ejected from the characters' viewpoint, allowing you to sit back and anticipate the other shoe dropping when major missteps are made (the farce equivalent of yelling at horny horror movie teens not to enter a dark cabin). Because of the way Hit Man is structured, each comedic payoff of Gary meeting a new client is, in its own way, a set-up for increasing oddities down the line. It takes longer for him to actually meet Madison than you'd expect from what is essentially a twisted rom-com; by then, all you want is for Powell to dive headfirst into this fantasy, because it allows him to personify a combination of hot and effortlessly funny.

Each time he does, the film rides a fine line between sincerity and irony, seldom growing detached from Gary and Madison, but always providing hints and reminders of how flimsy this house of cards really is.

Hit Man is as intense as it is funny.

On several occasions, Gary (as himself) is called upon as a witness to the cases in which he may have entrapped his subjects, throwing into doubt the ethics of what he does. After all, as he reminds us numerous times, hitmen-for-hire are largely an invention of pop culture, and passions and frustrations can lead even regular people down temporarily dark paths.

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This conversation, like most others in the film, applies equally to Gary and Madison's dynamic, which inadvertently becomes a form of romantic entrapment whose parameters Gary struggles to reset every once in a while. Both characters conceal parts of themselves from each other, sometimes by necessity. But when their respective ruses become too complicated to keep track of, they begin to unravel in delightfully unexpected ways.

The closer Gary comes to being found out, both by Madison and by his own department, the more stories he must concoct to keep his secret safe and his fantasy life intact. Eventually, the lies and identities pile up atop each other in uproarious ways, giving way to scenes where pulling off personal deceptions becomes an intriguing watch on multiple fronts. There's the story tension of whether Gary will get out of his next predicament, but there's just as much tension surrounding how the hell Powell and Arjona will pull off the balancing act the script demands of them. It's the comedic equivalent of Tom Cruise's death-defying Mission: Impossible stunts.

Linklater, though he keeps his style muted and simple here, turns in another comedy as bleakly and audaciously funny as Bernie (which was co-written by Hollandsworth). However, Hit Man could very well be his best work outside of the Before trilogy, with the potential to become as instantly iconic as School of Rock . He maintains an unwavering focus on performance above all else, substituting even quips and metatextual observations for silent reaction shots that sell the story's surreality tenfold. By the time the credits roll, there's a halfway decent chance you'll be left wishing it was ten times as long.

Hit Man is in select theaters. It premieres on Netflix June 7 .

UPDATE: Jun. 5, 2024, 3:00 p.m. EDT Hit Man was reviewed out of its world premiere at the Venice International Film Festival. This review is being republished as the movie hits select theaters on May 24 and Netflix on June 7.

Topics Film

Siddhant Adlakha is a film critic and entertainment journalist originally from Mumbai. He currently resides in New York, and is a member of the New York Film Critics Circle.

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Hit Man Reviews

The film effectively blends elements of crime, romance, and comedy, keeping the viewer’s attention throughout with Linklater's distinctive touch. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Aug 9, 2024

... a breezy tale of a quiet, nerdy, emotionally reserved man who is suddenly thrust into the role of undercover agent and thrives as he spins aggressive, outgoing, fearless alter egos.

It captivates thanks to its good character work, the excellent performances of Powell and Arjona (the chemistry between them, God!), and the interesting development of themes related to identity, personality, ego and deception. Full review in Spanish.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 5, 2024

Whatever your preferred method, just see the damn movie. It really is that good, and easily one of the year’s best films.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5 | Aug 5, 2024

As the object of desire, what Powell gives is less chemistry than capybara, but that’s okay, because Arjona’s performance is so hot that I was surprised the screen didn’t start smoking.

Full Review | Aug 1, 2024

"Hitman" comes at right time.

Full Review | Original Score: FIVE STARS | Jul 28, 2024

Hit Man is a smile and a wink. It’s charming and knows it; it’s fun and knows it; it’s flimsy and celebrates it. Splendidly cast, well-directed, and pleasant to watch, it may feel like a live-action cartoon, but what’s more Americana than that?

Full Review | Original Score: 78/100 | Jul 26, 2024

Hit Man finds a perfect tone all its own, keeping its own ridiculousness in check, but still taking things as far as possible.

Full Review | Original Score: B+ | Jul 24, 2024

No wonder 'Hit Man' is such a hit.

Full Review | Original Score: 3 1/2 stars | Jul 21, 2024

Based on a profile of Johnson in Texas Monthly magazine, by Skip Hollandsworth, this old-fashioned sexy caper makes merry with unreliable narration, slapstick and the stress of remembering which lie you told.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jul 13, 2024

“Hit Man” is connected in its way to the American madness of star-worship, sexual obsession, and above all our narcissistic drive to live our “best life” at the potential expense of everything else.

Full Review | Jul 10, 2024

Richard Linklater plays fast and loose with the facts to explore how ego and identity can influence storytelling from both the author and audience perspective.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 10, 2024

The creative partnership between Richard Linklater and Glen Powell hits its zenith in a motion picture that could single-handedly bring the rom-com back to its former heights.

Full Review | Jul 9, 2024

Richard Linklater delivers his excellent spin on Vertigo with this fascinating look at identity, anchored by a never-better Glen Powell.

Full Review | Jul 6, 2024

The opening comedy section works far better than the middle section where the script starts spinning its wheels as it becomes Fifty Shades of “Gary.”

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Jul 6, 2024

Actor of the moment delivers sly, sexy performance as chameleonesque Texan. Adria Arjona also excels as the film's femme fatale.

Full Review | Original Score: B+ | Jul 5, 2024

Overall, Hit Man hits all the right boxes for a good movie. Between the direction and writing, Richard Linklater never leaves you bored and keeps you wanting to see what is going to happen next.

Full Review | Jul 5, 2024

Hit Man isn’t necessarily the best movie of the year, so far, but it feels like the one with the most replayability because it’s so evergreen and fun.

Richard Linklater's 'Hit Man' feels rather slight on a first viewing, but that hardly matters when it's so smart and so wildly entertaining.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Jul 5, 2024

Matching blissfully assured characters and measuring the alchemical grace when ostensible goals collide.

Full Review | Original Score: 8/10 | Jul 4, 2024

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Recommended

Richard Linklater’s wildly entertaining comedy is the ‘Office Space’ of assassin movies

Time Out says

Fresh from his standout supporting turn as Top Gun: Maverick ’s cocky fighter ace Hangman (catchphrase: ‘I am good. I’m very good’), Glen Powell gets a chance to show what he can do with a lead role in Richard Linklater’s inspired comedy. And guess what? He’s good. He’s very good.

Powell plays Gary Johnson, a divorced philosophy professor whose sad-sack life is only slightly spiced up by a moonlighting gig with the New Orleans Police Department. Such is his introverted lifestyle that his comically miniscule kitchen table has only one chair. Even his ex-wife is after him to start dating.

Then, when the usual undercover cop is suspended, Gary suddenly finds himself forced to impersonate an assassin-for-hire in a sting operation designed to put enraged wives, jealous husbands and other assorted would-be murderers behind bars. It’s sink or swim and Gary, it turns out, is an Olympic freestyler when it comes to masquerading as a cocksure killers. Soon, he’s creating elaborate, slightly over-the-top personas tailored to the needs of prospective clients, and posing as everything from ruthless leather-clad Russians to a slicked-back Patrick Bateman-alike to offer help with their ‘little problems’. Abused wife Madison (Adria Arjona) gets ‘Ron’, a smooth, sexy type with, fatally, a weakness for beautiful women. The pair fall into bed and Gary’s secret life spirals out of control.

It reminded me of Office Space – and there’s no higher praise than that

Hit Man’ s opening intertitle jokingly warns that this is a ‘somewhat’ true story (its inspiration is an article by Linklater’s Bernie co-writer, Texan journo Skip Hollandsworth), so it needs you to roll with its silliest contrivances – and there are plenty of them. But Linklater and Powell’s deceptively brainy script turns all of them into comedy gold, mixing Jungian ideas about identity with a ready supply of zingers and one or two magnificent set-piece scenes.

Comfortably Linklater’s best movie since Boyhood , Hit Man stands alongside School of Rock for big laughs and good vibes – albeit with a darker streak that slowly kicks in. The supporting cast keep the laughs coming, especially Parks and Recreation ’s Retta as a fellow cop dumbfounded by Gary’s surprising acting gifts (‘Okay, Daniel Day!’). It reminded me a little of Office Space – and there’s no higher praise than that. In cinemas May 24 and on Netflix worldwide Jun 7.

Cast and crew

Director: Richard Linklater
Screenwriter: Richard Linklater, Glen Powell
Glen Powell
Adria Arjona
Mike Markoff
Austin Amelio
Molly Bernard

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‘Hit Man’ review: Richard Linklater’s screwball assassin comedy is serious fun

The 'School Of Rock' and 'Boyhood' director hits the target again

R ichard Linklater knows how to craft an offbeat indie. He practically invented them, if you think about his 1990 debut Slacker , high-school yarn Dazed And Confused , the Before trilogy or the sublime shot-incrementally-over-a-dozen-years Boyhood . But just occasionally, he’s slam-dunked a commercial hit too, notably 2003’s School Of Rock , with Jack Black as the music-loving substitute teacher. Now he’s back with Hit Man , another uproarious crowd-pleaser that gives a welcome starring turn to Top Gun: Maverick ’s Glen Powell.

Read more: Richard Linklater: “Truth is upended – it’s Donald Trump’s fault!”

Inspired (loosely) by a true story, one that stems from a 2001 article in Texas Monthly , Hit Man casts Powell as Gary Johnson, a part-time college teacher, lecturing in psychology. He also moonlights for the New Orleans Police Department, helping coordinate the tech as he records sting operations. Then he hits the motherlode, when he’s asked to go undercover, posing as a contract killer. The idea is to elicit confessions from the dopes that decide they want to hire out a hit man to take out an unfaithful lover or spouse.

Soon, Gary gets a taste for this lifestyle – adopting disguises and accents as he takes down these foolhardy folk. Then he meets Madison (Adria Arjona), and emotions get the better of him. She wants to hire ‘Ron’, as Gary calls himself on this occasion, to eliminate her awful, abusive husband. But all too aware that he’s leading her towards some serious jail time, Gary convinces her otherwise, something that sets alarm bells ringing among his colleagues who are listening into their interactions.

As chemistry fizzes between Gary and Madison, who are soon seeing each other, suspicions are raised, particularly by Jasper (Austin Amelio), the greasy, bitter cop who Gary replaced as the go-to undercover guy. And so Linklater delicately, deliciously, enters into sexy screwball comedy territory, crafting a criminal lovers tale that boasts scenes every bit as steamy as George Clooney and Jennifer Lopez squeezing in the car boot in 1998’s Out Of Sight .

Of course, the crazier it gets, the further away from real-life events Hit Man goes, but that ceases to matter, as by this point you’re wrapped up in the snowballing story. Intriguingly, the screenplay is credited to Linklater and Powell, whose sensibilities dovetail perfectly here. Likewise, the original Texas Monthly article comes from Skip Hollandsworth, who also provided the source material for Linklater’s 2011 dark comedy Bernie , that saw Jack Black as a caretaker-cum-killer.

Arjona, who previously featured in season two of True Detective , has a real casual grace about her, while Powell offers a deft turn (or turns, given his various guises) as a man who gets in way over his head. While this is a Netflix vehicle, meaning you’re likely to watch it at home when it drops in early June, it’s worth seeking out at the cinema on its limited theatrical release – for this is a film to be enjoyed with a big audience. Linklater is a master of pacing and he times this story to perfection; you’ll be aching with laughter by the end.

Director: Richard Linklater
Starring: Glen Powell, Adria Arjona, Austin Amelio
Release date: May 24 (in cinemas), June 7 (Netflix)
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'Hit Man' Review: Richard Linklater’s Netflix Noir Is a Hilarious, Sexy Gem

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The Big Picture

Richard Linklater excels in Hit Man , exploring new genres while creating his best work since Boyhood .
Glen Powell kills it in Hit Man , displaying comedic talents and versatility, showcasing exciting potential.
Hit Man is a delightful film that blends humor, romance, and anticipation, proving to be a joyous and exciting viewing experience.

This review was originally part of our coverage for the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival.

You have to live passionately and on your own terms,” begins Hit Man , a film that proves once again that director and co-writer Richard Linklater lives by this credo . In the last decade alone, we’ve seen Linklater wrap up one of the greatest movie trilogies ever made ( Before Midnight ), release a twelve-year passion project ( Boyhood ), a spiritual sequel to his classic Dazed and Confused ( Everybody Wants Some!! ), and most recently, a rotoscope animated pseudo-documentary ( Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood ). With Hit Man , Linklater once again takes on yet another style of film, creating his own version of a film noir, and ends up making his best film since Boyhood .

Glen Powell (who also co-wrote the film) stars as Gary Johnson, a psychology and philosophy teacher who also occasionally works for the New Orleans police department. When the unassuming Gary is tasked with playing a fake hitman in stings, it’s a role that he takes to quite easily, assuming different characters to entice the people trying to hire him . But once Gary/his sexier persona Ron meets Madison ( Adria Arjona )—a woman who wants to have her husband killed—sparks begin to fly and the two begin a relationship that could mean bad news for both of them.

Inspired by an unbelievable true story, a strait-laced professor discovers his hidden talent as a fake hit man. He meets his match in a client who steals his heart and ignites a powder keg of deception, delight, and mixed-up identities.

Very quickly, it becomes clear that noir is a perfect style for Linklater to explore , as his tone fits beautifully with the aesthetics of the genre. His brand of humor is extremely fun when thrown into a story like this, and by making Gary Johnson a professor, he can inject moments of philosophical discussions that remind of films like Slacker , A Scanner Darkly , or Waking Life . Hit Man almost reminds of Robert Altman ’s exploration of noir in The Long Goodbye , which also felt like an ideal blend of a director’s style with a genre that we might not have expected from them.

Glen Powell Is an Absolute Delight in 'Hit Man'

Powell has been a frequent collaborator with Linklater since 2006’s Fast Food Nation , and Hit Man marks their fourth and best work together . Plus, it gives Powell his finest showcase of his gifts as an actor. His penchant for strange costumes and attuning his appearance to his mark shows just how hilarious he can be, playing everything from a redneck to a Tilda Swinton -y assassin. He also excels at swapping between Gary and Ron. Even when we see him as the far more confident Ron, we can still see the glimmer of the nervous, awkward Gary hiding underneath. And with Powell also co-writing Hit Man , this is him showing off all his talents not just as an actor, but also on the page. Both are filled with exciting potential for the future.

But also surprising for Linklater is just how sexy he’s able to make Hit Man . Madison is the closest thing that the film has to a “ femme fatale ” archetype, and the chemistry between Arjona and Powell is off the charts. From their first meeting together, which acts as the hiring of an assassin, Gary/Ron trying to convince her that murder isn’t the answer in this case, and also a meet cute, the electricity between these two is insane. It makes this charming tale even more exciting as it (and their relationship) heats up.

Linklater’s Experimentation in Noir Makes for One of His Best Films in Years

Hit Man is also simply one of the most thoroughly enjoyable films of Linklater’s career, an absolute delight to watch unfold and play out. He keeps the twists of the noir narrative fairly straightforward, leaving us to revel and admire in Powell’s comedic chops, the romantic entanglements, and the anticipation for when this relationship might go too far. Powell, Linklater, and the entire cast are having a ball with this concept , and it’s a joy to watch how it all plays out.

This also speaks to Linklater’s brilliance at experimenting with genre at a core level , and how that can produce some of his finest works. Much of Hit Man feels like Linklater’s commentary on film noir, how absurd it all is, and playing with that absurdity to make a comedy that really works. But this breaking down of genre to its core elements and testing it out has led to some of Linklater’s greatest films. What better way to take a look at youth than show a kid actually growing up with Boyhood ? Or how better to show true love on screen than by showcasing the specific day two people fall in love with Before Sunrise , and then recontextualizing that love through Before Sunset and Before Midnight ? Even Linklater’s crack at a kid’s movie, with School of Rock , or his attempts at animated films like A Scanner Darkly and Apollo 10 1/2 feel groundbreaking in their approach. More than any other, though, Linklater is directly winking to the audience with Hit Man , making us part of his deconstruction and making us complicit in this film’s deception. It’s a delightful shift for Linklater, and it’s fun to watch him work through the genre in this way.

Richard Linklater smiles during an interview for Hit Man with Glen Powell's character as a backdrop

In Glen Powell We Trust: Does the Future of Filmmaking Rest in the Hands of Its Stars?

Richard Linklater believes the 'Hit Man' star has what it takes to shape the future of Hollywood.

With an opening credits that states that this is a “somewhat true story,” and considering the original article the film is based on was written by Skip Hollandsworth —who also wrote the basis for Linklater’s Bernie — Hit Man does at times feel like a spiritual sequel of sorts to that . Each sees Linklater blending murder and humor in an effective way. His and Powell’s screenplay isn’t beholden to the true story and even winks at their deviations in the end. That ability to tell their own version of this narrative is absolutely a feature and not a bug.

Linklater has been experimental for his entire career, but this last decade feels like it’s had more hills and valleys than before. In this period, we have seen some of Linklater’s best work, but we’ve also seen some of his most questionable films, ones that sometimes lose his heart and spirit, or feel like experimentations and spiritual sequels and little more. Hit Man , however, is Linklater’s interest in experimentation done right—trying out a genre that he’s never really played in before, having a blast riffing on the tropes and themes that made him love the genre, all while still making a film that feels wholly his own. It's always wonderful for Linklater to play and try things out in this way, but Hit Man feels far more like a success than just an experiment .

Hitman is Richard Linklater's best film in years and more proof of how Glen Powell is a star.

Hitman is a film both sexy and funny as it plays around with genre.
Powell's performance is his finest yet, showcasing his immense talents as both a writer and actor.
The chemistry between Adria Arjona and Powell heats up the film, making the charming tale even more exciting.

Hit Man is available to stream on Netflix in the U.S. starting June 7.

WATCH ON NETFLIX

Movie Reviews
Richard Linklater
Glen Powell

Hit Man Review: Richard Linklater's Wild Genre-Bender Takes Perfect Aim

Exciting hybrid of genres
Glen Powell does multiple levels of great acting
Sexy and romantic
Craft elements are unexceptional, but still get the job done

Richard Linklater is a director who jumps between a wide range of recurring styles and subjects: nostalgic teen comedies ("Dazed and Confused," "Everybody Wants Some!!"), experimental rotoscope animation ("Waking Life," "A Scanner Darkly"), romantic dramas (the "Before" trilogy), slightly edgy family films ( "School of Rock," "Bad News Bears"), and time-based concepts that take forever to complete ("Boyhood," the upcoming "Merrily We Roll Along"). With his latest film "Hit Man," we can now officially declare "adaptations of weird true crime stories written up by Skip Hollandsworth in 'Texas Monthly'" a recurring Linklater subgenre, following in the footsteps of the 2011 Jack Black vehicle "Bernie."

Despite that shared oddly specific starting point and darkly comedic sensibility, "Hit Man" turns out to be a very different film than "Bernie." "Bernie" was presented in semi-documentary mode, with talking-head interviews and real people mixing with the actors. "Hit Man," in contrast, isn't aiming for documentary authenticity, and past a certain point it completely abandons any pretense of realism to become the most entertaining possible version of itself. This is a movie that traverses genres as it progresses, from comedy to romance to neo-noir thriller, whatever mood is best suited for telling the story of Gary Johnson (Glen Powell).

That's not the Libertarian politician from New Mexico, to be clear, but a philosophy professor from New Orleans living a double life of living double lives. Getting involved with the local police department initially doing tech work, he finds himself surprisingly adept at undercover work, pretending to be non-existent hitmen — maybe a redundant phrase, as Gary's narration flat-out states that the career of hitman doesn't exist outside of the movies — to entrap would-be clients and bring them under arrest. But what happens when he meets a client he actually wants to help?

Richard Linklater is bringing sexy back

After attracting attention in "Top Gun: Maverick" last year, Glen Powell, who also co-wrote the "Hit Man" screenplay with Richard Linklater, is proving himself a bonafide movie star. He's excellent at playing both Gary and all of the hitman characters Gary plays. Each hitman is specifically designed for each client, so in the course of a montage, Gary can switch between being a gangster, a redneck, and Patrick Bateman from "American Psycho." The most prominent of these hitman personas is "Ron," a suave romantic type whom the ever-philosophical Gary wonders if he can change his personality to become more like in his real life.

It's Ron who rejects a request from Maddy Masters (Adria Arjona) asking him to kill her ex-husband, telling her to use the money she's saved up to pay him to escape and build a new life for herself. Maddy becomes the first target Gary lets get away from the police — and the first to seek out Ron's company outside of a professional context. Gary's attempt to hold a relationship within his double life is a great vehicle for both laughter and suspense, but what's most surprising is just how passionately romantic this story is.

Not a week goes by on social media these days without some sort of discourse about the state of sex scenes in movies (Too many? Not enough? Argue about this yet again!). Those on the side of wanting more great sex scenes in movies will be very happy with "Hit Man." Powell and Arjona are beautiful people with natural chemistry, and their intimate moments are as wonderful to watch as they are vital to the story and character development. It's not perverted or reliant on shock value — it's sexy because it naturally fits telling a mature story about adult relationships.

Both entertaining and intellectual

One of Richard Linklater's greatest skills is the ability to weave discussions of big ideas into entertaining formats. "Hit Man" is up there with "School of Rock" among his most purely entertaining films, but Gary's intellectually inquisitive nature allows this fun film to also grapple with some of life's big questions. How capable are people of change? How much of our personalities are performative? Are morality and the truth fixed or subjective? This is a smart movie as well as a fun one.

When watching movies about characters working for the police, some viewers are understandably wary about encountering "copaganda," but "Hit Man" comes off as pretty progressive in this regard. It acknowledges moral qualms with Gary's whole operation, and calls out the ways police unions shield bad cops from facing consequences for their crimes. At some points, I was a little worried that Jasper, the "bad cop" character played by Austin Amelio, might be treated too much as a sympathetic buffoon a la Sam Rockwell's character in "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri" — a reasonable concern considering Linklater's older films framed Alex Jones as essentially wacky but harmless. By the end of the film, I was so happy to be wrong about that.

I basically have nothing bad to say about this movie. It's not the type of film that will win awards for its cinematography or anything like that, but the craft elements are functional enough that the exceptional script and performances really get to sing. "Hit Man" is a well-rounded film that succeeds on multiple levels, and is easily one of the highlights of the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival. It's the exact sort of movie you'll want to tell all your friends about and watch it again with them.

"Hit Man" is playing at film festivals this fall. Further release plans have yet to be announced.

This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the film being covered here wouldn't exist.

Hit Man Review

It’s taken a while for Glen Powell to truly step into the spotlight. After popping up in the likes of Hidden Figures , Set It Up and Everybody Wants Some!! (the last his first collaboration with Richard Linklater), it was 2022’s Top Gun: Maverick that saw him really take flight, giving an unforgettably hissable-yet-heroic performance as Lt Jake ‘Hangman’ Seresin. Major turns have come since — box-office-busting romcom Anyone But You and another aviation adventure, Devotion — but it is with Hit Man that Powell announces himself as a movie star and a filmmaking force to be reckoned with.

Inspired by the true story of teacher-turned-pretend-assassin Gary Johnson (as reported by journalist Skip Hollandsworth in a 2001 article for Texas Monthly ), Hit Man sees Powell re-team with Linklater, this time on a deeper creative level as co-writer. It takes the real-life nugget of Gary’s unusual side-hustle and expands it into a tale of murder, mystery and mugshots. Powell starts off the movie playing against type — his Gary is a socks-and-sandals-wearing loner and birdwatcher, with two cats and a bad haircut. But when he’s asked last-minute to assume the role of fake hit man, so as to lure those looking to hire him into confessing plainly enough to warrant being arrested, he is intoxicated by the confidence that being somebody else gives him.

Arjona's chemistry with Powell is sizzling, captured by Linklater through tactile touch and lingering eye contact.

Cue a hilarious roll-call of disguises, as Gary delights in researching his targets and figuring out the exact type of hitman that will draw them over the line into illegal territory. There’s the tattooed redneck with wrap-around sunglasses and camouflage bandana; the Russian-accented, cigar-chomping goth in the black leather coat; the slick-haired, sharp-suited yuppie who looks like he came straight off the set of American Psycho ; the freckle-faced British guy with a ginger bob, dressed entirely in orange; and many, many more. Powell sinks entirely into every one of these identities, going full-on goofball with impeccable comic timing.

His finest character, though, is handsome charmer Ron. He is the assassin that Gary devises for Madison (Adria Arjona), a woman looking for a way out of her abusive marriage — but upon meeting her, Gary forgets his mission, letting Madison get away with her potential crime before striking up a relationship with her in his Ron persona. Arjona embodies both fieriness and fragility in what is surely a breakout role for her, making Madison an irresistible match for Gary/Ron while making sure there’s always something off about her that we can’t quite put our finger on. Her chemistry with Powell is sizzling, captured by Linklater through tactile touch and lingering eye contact. A romance based on lies and murder-for-hire is not exactly a healthy dynamic, but the pair are too magnetic for you to care, their charisma together oozing off-screen even when the plot becomes more heightened and melodramatic.

Though the narrative has plenty of twists and turns, Linklater’s direction still manages to evoke the cosy, comfortable vibe of his best hang-out movies. Hit Man ’s visual style is clean, unfussy — not vastly inventive, but sunny and colourful and engaging. That fresh, modern aesthetic juxtaposes nicely with a more traditional, jazzy score throughout. But while there are a few dramatic scenes that work at building tension, especially in the third act, the film mostly speeds along on a pretty even keel — always entertaining, but never quite delivering huge shifts in tempo or emotion. Questionable, too, is just how quickly Gary is able to shift gear from being a bumbling, socially-awkward techie into a cool-as-a-cucumber contract killer. The script uses Gary’s work as a psychology and philosophy teacher to go some way into digging into this, and the ethics of his faux assassin role, but that exploration remains fairly surface-level.

Gary’s whiplash-inducing personality changes are but a quibble — those aside, Hit Man delivers on just about every level. It’s funny, sexy, thrilling, fascinating. It’s original, and refreshingly so. It’s simply a friggin’ good time at the movies — and so, more’s the pity that it will receive such a limited theatrical run after being picked up for distribution by Netflix. If you can, try to experience Linklater, Powell and Arjona’s heady concoction for yourself on the big screen.

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If Glen Powell’s Not Already a Star, This Movie Will Make Him One

This review was originally published on September 7, 2023, out of the Venice Film Festival. We are recirculating it with Hit Man now on Netflix .

“How many of you really know yourselves?” Philosophy lecturer Gary Johnson (Glen Powell) posits this question to his University of New Orleans class early on in Richard Linklater’s Hit Man . “What if your self is a construction, an illusion … a role you’ve been playing since the day you were born?” It turns that he’s about to become a walking answer to the question. It’s a wild story that an opening title tells us is “somewhat true”: Johnson (a real guy) worked for a while for the New Orleans Police Department as a fake hit man for its sting operations, arriving at arranged meetings wearing a wire and then getting the suspects to incriminate themselves by obtaining his services.

An amiable, Honda Civic–driving, bird-watching Everyman in shorts and glasses, Gary somehow turns out to be the perfect fake assassin. “You have this unreadable face,” a colleague tells him. “Perfectly forgettable.” He only gets the gig at a moment’s notice because the usual guy got caught beating up some teens and got himself a 120-day suspension. But Gary’s a natural: He walks into his first meeting anxiously reminding himself that he’s a killer and somehow convincingly transforms into a badass as soon as he meets his mark. It’s not unlike the scene in Collateral where Jamie Foxx’s mousy cabbie has to pose as Tom Cruise’s stone-cold assassin and suddenly becomes a new man. There’s more than a bit of Cruise in Powell’s performance here, in fact. (One wonders if some of that magic movie-star dust rubbed off while they were making Top Gun: Maverick together. Powell, it should be noted, has a co-screenwriting credit on Hit Man .) But it’s not so much the white-haired killer of Collateral as the driven, smiling, fresh-faced icon of the ’80s and early ’90s. If Glen Powell’s not already a star, this picture might well make him one.

It’s a movie-star role because it is at heart a fantasy. As Gary tells us, hit men are, by and large, a myth. Why should a total stranger risk death row to kill your business rival or heartless spouse or whatever for money? Gary is effectively playing a figure out of our collective imagination. And on some level, that liberates him. He researches his clients beforehand and tailors his look for their expectations of a hit man: a neck tattoo here, an overcoat there, sometimes dark glasses, sometimes an accent. He can make up the character as he sees fit because the people he’s playing quite simply don’t exist.

Then, of course, he meets a girl: Madison (Adria Arjona), a terrified wife being tormented by an unstable, domineering husband. She tries to hire Gary, but he’s so taken with her that he slyly convinces her to give up on the idea because he doesn’t want to see her go to prison. Soon, they’re smitten with each other — only she thinks he’s still “Ron,” the grizzled, open-collared killer who showed her some genuine compassion and threw in a bit of impromptu life coaching.

And Gary sort of thinks he’s Ron, too. Or at least, he becomes Ron whenever he’s with her, so much so that he’s now a demon in bed. (“I was once told I think too much to be a good lover,” he reflects. “I like Ron. He’s not a thinker. He’s a doer.”) He also has the instincts of a tougher guy when they’re together. When Madison’s estranged husband spots them at a club and threatens them, Gary immediately pulls out a gun, Clint Eastwood–style, and backs the guy off.

We get a giddy thrill watching Gary transform because he seems like such an unexceptional person at first. Hit Man works simultaneously as an indulgence in and a deconstruction of the basic transaction of stardom: It presents us with a guy we can never be, then makes us believe for a moment that we can be him, even as it tells us that such a guy doesn’t exist in the first place. But Linklater’s amiable filmmaking and Powell’s charming, self-aware swagger are infused with the idea that anything is possible. They make the whole world seem open, malleable, and accepting. As Gary tells his class, “If the universe is not fixed, then neither are you.”

A lot of very dumb things have been said about the auteur theory in recent years, all of which ignore its beautiful central tenet, which is that some filmmakers’ sensibilities shine through their work no matter the material. Linklater’s breeziness and generosity as a director haven’t always worked to his advantage — I can think of a couple of earlier efforts that could have used a darker, more exacting eye — but here, they work wonders.

If one were in the habit of playing artists off one another, one could even say that Hit Man serves as a rebuke to the other hit-man movies at Venice this year — to the self-conscious portent of David Fincher’s The Killer , or the graphic tedium of Harmony Korine’s Aggro Dr1ft . All of these filmmakers are well aware of the tiredness of the genre they’re working in and are trying to poke holes in it, each in his own way. But only Linklater’s feels genuinely fresh. He’s having fun, his star is having fun, and they allow the audience to have fun as well. Which in turn makes the picture’s overt philosophical digressions, in the form of Gary’s lectures to his classes, equally easygoing and lively. Linklater’s gentle touch is his secret weapon, and Hit Man might be a masterpiece.

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Gerard butler disaster movie with 18% rt score gets candid reflection & sequel update from director: “we barely survived”, 10 movies that were clearly inspired by the evil dead.

Hit Man tackles several major talking points in the film industry, including the lack of feature-length comedies, young movie stars, and sex in mainstream cinema.
Despite its acquisition by Netflix and the disappointment from critics, the film is likely to find success in any release format. It is funny, engrossing, sexy, and thoughtful, making it a great pick for movie night at home.
The film explores the idea of role play and the nature of identity, examining whether it is mutable or constant. The premise is intriguing and the script delves into the concept both comedically and philosophically, resulting in a thrilling and enjoyable experience.

I'd be surprised if it was intended this way, but I can't help but see Hit Man as Richard Linklater's response to today's state-of-the-movies discussions. It addresses at least three of the major talking points: the dirth of feature-length comedies; the vacuum of young movie stars; and the absence of sex in mainstream cinema. Its acquisition by Netflix after lighting up festivals has been met with dismay from the critical community, because it could've tackled a fourth: the lack of non-franchise, non-family targeted options in theaters. No matter - I believe this film will find success however it releases. Hit Man is funny, engrossing, sexy, and thoughtful. As well as it plays to a packed audience, I have no doubt it'll deliver as the pick for movie night at home, though I would at least recommend getting together a few people you'd enjoy laughing with before queuing it up.

Based on the true story recounted in a 2001 Texas Monthly article of the same name, this film introduces us to the unromantic (but comforting) idea that hit men don't actually exist. Gary Johnson (Glen Powell), a philosophy professor by trade, works part-time with the New Orleans police undercover team, helping them with their recording tech. They prey on our fiction-induced belief in paid killers by having contact info for a hit man in circulation. Whenever someone reaches out, an officer plays the part, and gets them to order the murder on tape. Only, one day, their usual guy can't make the meet, and Gary, as bland a man as there ever was, is suddenly asked to fill in. Turns out, he's good at it, and he enjoys it. He starts researching his marks and building himself characters to play, based on what he believes they'd imagine a hit man to be.

Gary has a lot of fun with it, and so does Powell, showing off a delightful comic range to pair with his natural charisma. For a while, things go well. Gary sees the gig as field-testing for his day job, exploring the questions about the nature of identity he's been mulling over. Then, he meets Madison (Adria Arjona). She set a meet to take care of her domineering, abusive husband, and Gary goes as Ron, virtually his opposite: suave, spontaneous, easy-going. They instantly click, and as their exchange turns flirtatious, he sees her as a good person caught up in a bad situation. He goes rogue and, without giving himself away, nudges her toward leaving her husband instead of the extreme route she intended. She walks away without incriminating herself, and Gary's colleagues chastise him for playing therapist. But soon, Madison reaches out again. She's free of her husband and wants to meet up - with Ron the hit man.

Now the true test of identity arises. Will being Ron often enough fundamentally change Gary? It's a great premise, and one that Hit Man takes care not to waste. The idea of role play is baked into all parts of the script, which Powell co-wrote with Linklater. Its application as a comedic conceit is clear, and the movie is genuinely interested in it philosophically as well, exploring whether identity is always a matter of playing a role (and therefore mutable) or something more intrinsic (and therefore constant). The same idea is also the bedrock of Ron and Madison's connection - in their first meeting, they playfully act out an impromptu skit, and sparks fly. The film only continues stacking layers of performance as Gary starts to lose his grip on the situation, and the effect is thrillingly destabilizing. Linklater refuses to sit back and coast on a winning set-up; there's a liveliness to the way Hit Man is structured that's so enjoyable to experience.

Gary (as Ron) and Madison in the bath together in Hit Man

It helps that Powell and Arjona have incredible, Out of Sight -esque chemistry. There's an improvisational feel to their scenes together, not in the sense that the actors seem to be riffing, but in the tenor of their characters' behavior. It genuinely feels like Gary/Ron and Madison are being guided by an instinctual attraction to one another, planning only to be in the same room and see where things go from there. Given that one of them is pretending to be a different person, it's a fascinating energy to have. With Madison escaping her husband, and Gary escaping himself, they are, in a sense, each other's liberation. Their sex (in addition to furthering their affinity for role play) is an expression of their newfound freedom to enjoy themselves, and even when they argue, there's a sparkle in Arjona's eye that captures a love for that very moment's unpredictability.

The supporting cast does quality work as well, with Retta scoring plenty of laughs and Austin Amelio getting the meatiest role as Jasper, the undercover cop Gary replaces. But these lead performances are absolutely critical. There is a crowd-pleasing smoothness to Hit Man 's storytelling that belies the movie's willingness to push our ethical buttons; if we don't believe in the fundamental truth of the central bond, everything falls apart. Because we do, we find ourselves rooting for them always, even in spite of our better judgment. Linklater has that ability to get his audience thinking without making us feel like we're being prodded or provoked, and Powell as both co-writer and screen presence proves the perfect avatar for that sensibility. Savor Hit Man , however you come across it - it's not every day the movies entertain us in this way at this level of execution anymore.

Hit Man premiered at the Venice Film Festival and does not yet have a US release date. The film is 113 minutes long and is not yet rated.

From director Richard Linklater comes Hit Man, a 2023 action comedy film based on a Texas Monthly article of the same name. Undercover and trying to catch a group of criminals, a Houston police officer poses as a hitman until he falls for a woman on assignment. Finding himself diving deeper into the world of crime, the Houston officer finds it increasingly difficult to escape his new undercover persona.

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Twisty thriller-comedy has sex, language, and violence.

Hit Man movie poster: Glen Powell in many disguises, and with Adria Arjona.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

A person's identity or personality doesn't have to

Gary is a nerdy professor who uses his many talent

The female lead, Puerto Rican actress Adria Arjona

Significant discussion and description of bodily h

Two adults kiss and have sex in a variety of posit

"F--k," "s--t," "a--hole," "damn," "goddamn," "hel

Car brands, University of New Orleans, New Orleans

Adults drink alcohol and smoke cigarettes. A polic

Positive Messages

A person's identity or personality doesn't have to be set in stone; humans can change, evolve, and reinvent themselves. Love can curdle into hate, and people are capable of doing very bad things in the name of both of those emotions.

Positive Role Models

Gary is a nerdy professor who uses his many talents to freelance for the police, helping catch people attempting to hire a hit man to kill others. He also gets wrapped up in one of his more attractive invented personas and begins crossing ethical lines. Another police character also acts unethically. Madison attempts to reconstruct her life after an abusive relationship, but she gets drawn back into the violence. She's also reinventing herself and, at times, playing a character. Characters commit violent acts.

Diverse Representations

The female lead, Puerto Rican actress Adria Arjona, could be considered a stereotype of the intense, sexy Latina; her character isn't given many interests or much purpose outside of the men in her life. The main character, who's White, is based on a real person. The students in his university classes are diverse. His female colleague and male superior on the police team are Black. An unethical policeman, who is White, is on leave for beating up some teenagers, causing a PR problem for the local force. Another police colleague is played by an Indian American actor, and one scene suggests he's gay or bisexual. Among the characters who try to hire an assassin, several could be considered stereotypes of lower-income White Southerners, including one gun rights advocate.

Did we miss something on diversity? Suggest an update.

Violence & Scariness

Significant discussion and description of bodily harm, but little is shown beyond one death by poison and strangulation. One character pulls a gun on another. Archive footage of scenes of violence from old movies and TV shows. The main character, as a fake assassin, invents descriptions of how he kills, dismembers, and disposes of people's bodies. He also describes specific methods individuals might use to die via suicide. People hiring him talk about wanting to get rid of someone in their lives, including a teenage boy who pays to have his mother killed. Reference to the Second Amendment, school shooters, police beatings, dirty cops, and cancel culture.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Two adults kiss and have sex in a variety of positions and in various scenes. No intimate body parts are seen, though they're hinted at, and a man is shown shirtless and a woman in her bra. They take a bath together. In a scene at a strip club, women are seen in lingerie. There's mention of a man being "hung like a straw" versus a "nightstick."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

"F--k," "s--t," "a--hole," "damn," "goddamn," "hell," "d--k," "bitch," "son of a bitch," "douche," "sucks," "p---y," "slut," "balls," "geez," "weird."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

Car brands, University of New Orleans, New Orleans Police Department. A running joke revolves around a man's status being defined by the fact that he drives a Honda Civic.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Adults drink alcohol and smoke cigarettes. A police officer drinks from a flask while on duty. A person is drugged into unconsciousness. A person is killed after what police believe is a drug deal gone wrong.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that director Richard Linklater 's thriller-comedy Hit Man centers on a police contractor named Gary ( Glen Powell ) who's posing as an assassin. People -- including a teen -- hire him to murder others. There's lots of discussion about and description of bodily harm, but little is shown beyond one death by poison and strangulation. One character pulls a gun on another, and archive footage includes scenes of violence from old movies and TV shows. Gary invents descriptions of how he kills, dismembers, and disposes of people's bodies, and he describes specific methods people might use to die via suicide. Two adults kiss and have sex in a variety of positions and in various scenes. No intimate body parts are seen, but they're hinted at. Adults drink alcohol and smoke cigarettes. A police officer drinks from a flask while on duty, and a person is drugged into unconsciousness. Language includes "f--k," "s--t," "a--hole," "goddamn," "hell," "d--k," "bitch," "douche," "sucks," "p---y," and more. The female lead, Puerto Rican actress Adria Arjona , could be considered a stereotype of the intense, sexy Latina; her character isn't given many interests or much purpose outside of the men in her life. There are also stereotypes of lower-income White Southerners, including one gun rights advocate. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

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Community Reviews

Parents say (6)
Kids say (1)

Based on 6 parent reviews

Saw a review calling this movie “Deceptivey Dark”, which I think nails it

Having a hard time understanding how this film has any stars in the Positive Messages category. There’s certainly a degree of intrigue and entertainment throughout. But eventually the ‘heart’ of the film is revealed and it’s substantially darker than you’d expect. Surely there’s an element of fiction here, and some may not be bothered by questionable ethics being played out in Hollywood style. But for those with a more sensitive moral compass who prefer movies that reflect decent values (or, any values at all), this one probably isn’t for you.

Glibly presents reprehensible behavior

What's the story.

In HIT MAN, Gary ( Glen Powell ) is a nerdy philosophy professor at a New Orleans university whose electronics skills have led him to part-time freelance work for the local police force. One day he's asked to sub for police officer Jasper (Austin Amelio), put on administrative leave, in posing as a hit man to capture wrongdoers. Gary finds he has a natural talent for the job and begins taking on different looks and identities for each of his sting operations. On one, as the suave operator "Ron," he meets the beautiful Madison ( Adria Arjona ). After talking her out of killing her husband, the two begin a heated affair. But Madison believes her new boyfriend is a hit man, and Gary likes his new life as Ron. The two will face other obstacles as well.

Is It Any Good?

Glen Powell is on a roll, and there's no doubt this latest film—which shows off some chameleonic acting chops on his part—will find a huge audience. Hit Man is a sexy, twisting mystery with a silly side as well as some philosophizing about the nature of identity and personality construction. Considering this latter theme, the writers—Powell himself, together with director Linklater—could have dug deeper to give co-star Arjona more personality outside the bedroom. We learn little about her beyond her desire for Ron and her reactions to an abusive husband. The one-dimensional portrayal feels like a throwback.

But, as the title alludes, this film is all about the man, and it seems constructed as a showcase for Powell. As Gary, he swaps wigs, accents, even teeth—a man of many disguises. The actor's natural charisma and ability to transition from shy to smarmy to charming in a single scene is on full display here, and he can be very funny. That charm is what helped boost ticket sales for his romcom Anyone But You . Meanwhile, the New Orleans setting sizzles in the film's background and subtly supports themes in Gary's character as well as his philosophy lectures. Watch, for example, for Powell to drive by the corners of Law and Desire or Pleasure and Pain.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about Gary's transformation in Hit Man . His university lectures suggest it's a positive thing to evolve your identity over the course of your life. Is his evolution positive? Why, or why not?

How do other characters, like Madison, also reinvent themselves in this film? Do you ever feel you're "playing a role" in your own life?

The movie is inspired by a true story. What responsibilities do filmmakers have when they create films based on someone's life? Where could you find more information about the real Gary Johnson and what liberties the film took with his story?

Do you feel the character played by Puerto Rican actress Adria Arjona falls into a stereotype of Latinas often seen on-screen? How so, or not? Do any other characters in the film feel like stereotypes? Is it ever OK to use stereotypes as shorthand for certain types of people in movies? Why, or why not?

What aspects of the New Orleans setting stood out to you in the film? The film was originally going to take place in Austin, Texas. How does New Orleans play a role in the story? How would the film change if it were set somewhere else, like Austin or your own hometown?

Movie Details

In theaters : May 24, 2024
On DVD or streaming : June 7, 2024
Cast : Glen Powell , Adria Arjona , Retta
Director : Richard Linklater
Inclusion Information : Female actors, Latino actors, Black actors
Studio : Netflix
Genre : Comedy
Run time : 115 minutes
MPAA rating : R
MPAA explanation : language throughout, sexual content and some violence
Last updated : August 5, 2024

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

Suggest an Update

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‘Hit Man’ Review: Should You Watch Glen Powell’s New Movie on Netflix?

Richard Linklater made his return to Netflix but should you give it a watch?

Acquired by Netflix after a strong debut on the 2023 film festival circuit, Hit Man strikes at the perfect time for burgeoning leading man Glen Powell. After taking to the skies with Tom Cruise in 2022’s blockbuster smash Top Gun: Maverick , Powell’s stock has continued to rise in the past two years with his roles in the Korean War film Devotion and, of course, his major breakout role opposite Sydney Sweeney in the romantic comedy Anyone But You .

The latter film really connected with audiences as it took in nearly 220 million dollars at the worldwide box office and became a staple of the Netflix Top 10 upon its streaming release on the platform. With a major summer theatrical release in Twisters coming in mid-July, Powell drops a crime-based comedy in Hit Man to satisfy his audience who seemingly just can’t get enough. Co-written by Powell along with the prolific, Oscar-nominated director Richard Linklater ( Dazed and Confused , Before Sunrise , School of Rock ), the film adapts the 2001 Texas Monthly magazine article of the same name by Skip Hollandsworth that profiled the real-life story of Houston-based college professor Gary Johnson, a man who posed as a professional killer and worked with the local police department to take down his would-be clients.

In this iteration of the story , the setting has changed to New Orleans as philosophy professor Gary (Powell) helps out as part of the technical staff on sting operations for the local police. However, when the regular undercover officer Jasper (Austin Amelio) doesn’t show up, Gary is called upon to step in and pose as a prominent hitman in the area to arrest those trying to hire him.

Using his philosophy background and experience with law enforcement, Gary discovers that not only does he have the skills to pull it off, but he also has the talent and know-how to theatrically match the expectations of his “clients,” often with costumes, makeup, and accents.

However, while undercover as the charming, composed, yet deadly hitman “Ron”, Gary encounters Maddy ( 6 Underground’s Adria Arjona), a woman seeking to escape from her abusive relationship with her husband Ray (Evan Holtzman); empathizing with her story and developing feelings for her, Gary advises her to seek out better options instead of taking her down and the two soon become romantically involved.

Just as their courtship starts to truly blossom, the police inform Gary that Maddy’s soon-to-be ex-husband Ray has been found dead, and Maddy is the prime suspect. Torn between his obligation to his police colleagues and his love for Maddy, Gary must find out the truth and do what he thinks is right.

Picture: Netflix

While the movie is not flawless in its plot construction or pace, not a soul who came for its stars or the resurgence of the crime comedy genre will care. Powell & Arjona ooze sex appeal and lead a charm offensive that would take down the ‘85 Bears defense. The film comfortably blends wish fulfillment, meditations on identity, & exposing the underbelly of society in a package of silliness, raw magnetism, & charisma.

While Powell & Arjona steal the show, it has to be stated that this is an odd choice that strangely works for co-writer/director Richard Linklater. Delighting in character-driven sight gags with an undeniable star at the center of the frame hasn’t really been seen much from Linklater since unleashing Jack Black on us in full force with School of Rock almost 2 decades ago. One could definitely imagine that the more sophisticated & thought-provoking moral/philosophical themes added to a more straightforward genre could be the added flavor of an artist who made the “Before” trilogy & Boyhood.

Hit Man openly shows that it was acquired by a major studio but not made by one. Its unique form takes the shape of the personality of its creators without the zip & pop sensations of a studio-noted bounce.

The only thing that could potentially push audiences away from completely embracing the film is the increasingly dark tone that culminates in a more divisive conclusion. Battles of Id and Superego come to a sharp head that may surprise its viewer after riding with sexy montages indulging all of our senses for most of its runtime. While this viewer found it jarring at first, it’s hard to see a different conclusion that would satisfy our feelings for our leads and not take us in a far more drawn out & less comedic finale.

Overall, Hit Man is a surefire win for Powell, Linklater, & Netflix. Laughs, sex appeal, a little philosophical debate, & a darkly playful moral quandary make the film intriguing all the way through. While the ending may feel a bit too breezy or divisive considering the subject matter, the talented cast & creators will help you smile through the potential unease. It’s Powell & Arjona at their absolute best with Linklater doing his most entertaining work since Everybody Wants Some!.

Watch Hit Man If You Like

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MVP of Hit Man

Hit Man Netflix Movie Coming In June 2024 Jpg

Glen Powell

While his stock has been on a meteoric rise, Glen Powell hasn’t truly got to do one thing: make HIS movie.

With co-writing, producing, & starring in Hit Man, Powell has officially done just that. Better, he’s done it with a critically-accepted festival darling that will blast him out to a massive Netflix audience.

And boy is he having fun doing it. Costumes, accents, wigs, and the biggest smile on his face throughout. Toss in incredible chemistry with his love interest Adria Arjona and so much sex appeal that co-star Retta exclaimed “I’d pull out my IUD for Ron!”

Action star. Rom-com heartthrob. Now, credible comedy lead. The sky’s the limit for Powell’s incredibly bright future.

Hit Man proves “Any Powell is Good Powell”. A star on the rise meets a script full of charm, humor, & intrigue that shows off all of his talents.

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The true story behind Hit Man , Richard Linklater's new Netflix caper comedy

Based on a real undercover operative, Gary Johnson was known as the best professional assassin in Houston.

Matt Lankes / Netflix

Richard Linklater ’s acclaimed Netflix caper comedy Hit Man follows Gary Johnson ( Glen Powell , also co-writer), a mild-mannered police staffer who goes undercover as a would-be assassin for some of the more unseemly characters in New Orleans. But when a young woman (Adria Arjona) wants to enlist his services against her abusive partner, Johnson finds himself torn between his professional duties and true love.

Though it sounds like a wild work of fiction, Linklater’s latest picture is nominally based on fact. A rousing Texas Monthly article by Skip Hollandsworth from October 2001 portrayed Johnson as a renegade law enforcement official with a knack for character work who, over 30 years, reportedly nabbed more than 60 people looking to procure a hit man.

Linklater’s film spins a fictional plot out of Johnson’s life, but Powell’s character shares the real man’s name and some of his particular quirks. To unravel the larger-than-life story and unbelievable characters that inspired Hit Man , Entertainment Weekly looks into Gary Johnson’s life and compares it with Linklater’s stylish comic thriller, which is streaming on Netflix now.

Join EW as we explore the true story behind Hit Man .

Who was Gary Johnson?

Gary Johnson was a law enforcement official who enjoyed tending to his garden, listening to classical music, and meditating. Born in 1947, he was raised by his mother, a homemaker, and his father, a carpenter, in a tiny Louisiana burg where he was one of 12 students in his high school class.

Johnson was deployed to Vietnam as a military police officer before he headed back to Louisiana and found work with a sheriff’s office. After a few years, Johnson left that post for a police officer position in Port Arthur, Tex., playing a supposed drug addict who would try to score from street dealers.

“I don’t think the drug dealers ever suspected I might be a cop because my personality was so weird to begin with,” Johnson remarked to Texas Monthly .

After returning to school for a Master’s Degree in psychology, Johnson moved to Houston intending to get a PhD in psychology from the University of Houston. Johnson wasn’t admitted into the program but was soon hired as an investigator for the Houston District Attorney’s office.

When people asked Johnson what he did for a living, his answer was brief and vague: “human resources.” Though he taught human sexuality and general psych classes twice a week at the local community college, his full-time job consisted of reviewing tapes for Harris County prosecutors in dark, windowless rooms for hours at a time.

“If you saw Johnson at the district attorney’s office, you would probably mistake him for a low-level clerk,” the Texas Monthly article explains. “He spends most of his days in a little room filled with video- and audio-recording machinery, where he duplicates or enhances tapes (such as a videotape shot on a department store camera of a shoplifter or an audiotape made of a criminal’s confession) for prosecutors to use in their various court trials. He is a precise, fastidious man.”

What was Gary Johnson’s profession?

Neighbors, co-workers, and students alike agreed Johnson was the epitome of a normal, perhaps even slightly boring guy. However, he was known to Texas’ underworld as “the greatest professional hit man in Houston.” He was also “the Laurence Olivier” of undercover murder-for-hire cases. By all accounts, the investigator was uniquely suited to win over those looking to pay someone to snuff out their cheating wife, nagging husband, or greedy business partner. Johnson crafted multiple aliases and personas. While masquerading as a hardened biker to woo rough-hewn males seeking his services, he’d go by Mike Caine; assuming the identity of a “pleasant-looking” problem solver, he offered a listening ear and warm shoulder to society grand dame Lynn Kilroy when she wanted her husband whacked. He ended up busting her, and Killroy received probation for her dalliance with the so-called assassin.

“He’s the perfect chameleon,” lawyer Michael Hinton, who worked as one of Johnson’s supervisors, told Texas Monthly . “Gary is a truly great performer who can turn into whatever he needs to be in whatever situation he finds himself. He never gets flustered, and he never says the wrong thing. He’s somehow able to persuade people who are rich and not so rich, successful and not so successful, that he’s the real thing. He fools them every time.”

Johnson took on his first undercover assassin assignment in 1989 and proceeded to seek wetwork for the next three decades, putting more than 60 criminals behind bars in the process, according to All That’s Interesting . Despite his high-pressure job, Johnson was reportedly “the chillest dude imaginable,” according to a note in the film, and he shared an equal love for his cats (named Id and Ego, respectively), the words of Gandhi, and Buddhist teachings.

He was also a confirmed loner, having been married and divorced three times. His second wife, Sunny, told Texas Monthly she was astonished he could switch personas for his job. “He’ll show up at parties and have a good time, and he’s always friendly, but he likes being alone, being quiet. It’s still amazing to me that he can turn on this other personality that makes people think he is a vicious killer,” she mused.

Is Adria Arjona’s character based on a real person?

Arjona’s character Maddy is inspired by a real individual who is introduced at the end of the Texas Monthly article. In the source, Johnson was tipped off to an unnamed woman who felt she had no choice but to kill her violent boyfriend.

While researching the suspect before making contact, Johnson “learned that she really was the victim of abuse, regularly battered by her boyfriend, too terrified to leave him because of her fear of what he might do if he found her.”

Instead of setting up a sting to catch the woman, Johnson “referred her to social service agencies and a therapist to make sure she got proper help so she could leave her boyfriend and get into a women’s shelter.”

It was a change of heart that was highly unusual for the regimented professional, one which prompted Hollandsworth to tell Johnson, “The greatest hit man in Houston has just turned soft.”

“Just this once,” Johnson shot back, which is where the article ends.

The exchange was Linklater’s spark of inspiration, crafting his semi-fictional opus around an invented relationship between Johnson and the young woman. What really tickled the director, though, was the idea of Arjona’s character falling in love with one of Powell’s alter egos rather than the real man himself, laying the groundwork for a classic screwball comedy.

“He’s trapped in his hit man persona, which is fine because he’s finding it much more of a fun way to go through the world, particularly in relation to her,” Linklater explained in a Netflix interview. “So it becomes a body-switch comedy in a weird, strange way.”

Courtesy of Netflix

How much of Hit Man is based on Johnson’s real life?

Linklater’s film is largely rooted in the facts of Johnson’s career, though it predictably takes creative liberties. Most of Hit Man takes place after the point where the Texas Monthly article ended, with Powell’s Johnson meeting Arjona’s Maddy. Linklater told Netflix that this was a rather obvious choice, as he’d long been fascinated with the article but was unsure what the central relationship should be.

“What would happen if a woman got back in touch with him, even went so far as to thank him?” the director queried. “What if she asked him out? What if they got together?”

The movie offers an alternate version of Johnson’s life, keeping many of the article’s facts to structure the narrative's spine while spinning a plot, which suggests the investigator’s life took a very different turn after he met the mysterious young woman.

The movie’s primary embellishment involves Powell’s character actually killing someone in the third act, which the real Gary Johnson certainly never did. Linklater makes this clear in a postscript at the end of the film, but the choice is indicative of the surrealistic spin Linklater gave Johnson’s life story.

Brian Rondel / Courtesy of Netflix

Was Gary Johnson involved with Hit Man ’s production?

Johnson, who died in 2022, was not directly involved in Hit Man ’s production, despite Powell saying Linklater had “a lot of reverence” for the law enforcement official and his colorful life.

However, Linklater and Powell did plenty of research into both the hitman profession and Johnson’s peculiar niche before heading to set. “I never got a chance to talk to the real Gary Johnson,” Powell told Netflix. “I listened to him a lot in old recordings and read a lot of what he did in police debriefs.”

Powell explained the process was easier without involving Johnson because the film was “creating a moment in time for Gary” that was a snapshot of the article rather than “where he is now. Sometimes when you meet the real-life people, you meet them in a different phase of their life and it can taint who they used to be,” the Anyone but You star considered.

Although Johnson never got to see the film, Powell believes Johnson would have “really appreciated the story.”

“I’m really glad we have that tribute to him at the end of the movie,” Powell added.

We earn a commission for products purchased through some links in this article.

Hit Man is the best Netflix movie this year

Surrender to Glen Powell's incredible charm.

preview for Hit Man - Official Trailer (Netflix)

Glen Powell , who has already starred in one of Netflix 's best rom-coms ever ( Set It Up ) and is now one of the most in-demand stars in Hollywood, displays a ridiculous amount of charisma in this new movie. It's his best performance to date, as the Top Gun: Maverick actor embraces the mythical nature of the hit man through a story of crime, deception, sex and philosophical dilemmas.

Following a critically-acclaimed journey through film festivals last year and after a limited two-week theatrical release, Hit Man is now officially the best Netflix movie of 2024 .

Related: Best streaming services

Inspired by Skip Hollandsworth's Texas Monthly article of the same name, published in October 2001, the movie follows a Houston college professor, Gary Johnson (Powell), as he juggles teaching philosophy at university with his tech-support side job with the local police.

When troublemaking policeman Jasper ( The Walking Dead 's Austin Amelio) is suspended, Gary is asked to fill in for him. His task is to pose as a hit man in front of a potential client in order to get them to verbalise their intentions and exchange the money. That's the only way they can arrest them.

After a first incredibly successful experience, Gary is fascinated with the concept of embodying different identities. After all, that's his area of academic expertise. This new role with the police is, as he says, "like field research".

After thorough research, Gary shows up to meetings with increasingly ludicrous costumes, wigs, tattoos, scars and accents, every identity adapting to his clients' expectations so they have no other choice but to believe him.

However, when he meets with Maddy Masters ( Good Omens ' Adria Arjona) to negotiate the killing of her abusive husband, something changes in Gary — or Ron, the irresistibly attractive hitman identity he has carefully selected to wow the stunningly gorgeous client in front of him.

What if Gary wants to be full-time Ron? Can people change who they are? Is the notion of self merely a construction? Is identity really interchangeable? Is personality just a performance?

adria arjona and glen powell in netflix movie hit man

Hit Man explores these fascinating ideas and offers strokes of academic theory for those viewers who want to fall down the rabbit hole that is the construction of self in modern society.

Richard Linklater delivers thoughts on professional ethics and human morality in the most playful and non-patronising way, refusing to sacrifice complexity just because this is a funny comedy (very funny, actually) and choosing to be a humanist even when confronting highly problematic behaviour. The movie is not condoning toxicity, but inspecting it and having fun at its expense.

The filmmaker mixes this gripping philosophical frame with the classic traits of a screwball comedy (it's fast-paced, farcical, silly and ultimately deeply romantic) and the scenarios of a film noir (the plot echoes of Double Indemnity ) to obtain a captivating hybrid of genres that creates a hell of a good time.

For any Glen Powell non-believers somehow still out there, despite his notable work in the box-office hit rom-com Anyone But You and what appears to be a stellar appearance as a "tornado wrangler" in the upcoming Twisters , Hit Man should be a turning point.

The Texas actor squeezes all his Southern charm into a terrific performance, even if you'd have a hard time believing he's not supposed to be attractive in those nerdy glasses, striped polo shirts and shameful Bermuda shorts. His physical comedy (particularly in one key scene involving mixed stories and phone notes) is masterful.

Much like his previous collaboration with Linklater, the excellent Everybody Wants Some!! , this new Netflix movie is a joy to watch — fresh yet nostalgic, accessible even if incredibly complex, transcendental in an unassuming way, and ultimately a delightful romantic comedy about living life passionately and finding someone that matches your freak.

Hit Man is now out on Netflix.

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Deputy Movies Editor, Digital Spy Mireia (she/her) has been working as a movie and TV journalist for over seven years, mostly for the Spanish magazine Fotogramas .

Her work has been published in other outlets such as Esquire and Elle in Spain, and WeLoveCinema in the UK.

She is also a published author, having written the essay Biblioteca Studio Ghibli: Nicky, la aprendiz de bruja about Hayao Miyazaki's Kiki's Delivery Service . During her years as a freelance journalist and film critic, Mireia has covered festivals around the world, and has interviewed high-profile talents such as Kristen Stewart, Ryan Gosling, Jake Gyllenhaal and many more. She's also taken part in juries such as the FIPRESCI jury at Venice Film Festival and the short film jury at Kingston International Film Festival in London. Now based in the UK, Mireia joined Digital Spy in June 2023 as Deputy Movies Editor.

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IMAGES

Hitmen (2023) Movie Review
‎Hitmen (2023) directed by Savvas D. Michael • Film + cast • Letterboxd
Hitmen (2023)
HITMEN
Hitman (2023)
Hitmen (2023)

COMMENTS

Hit Man (2023)
Discover Richard Linklater's neo-noir film "Hit Man," where a professor moonlights as a fake hitman, leading to a dangerous affair.
Hit Man movie review & film summary (2024)
Richard Linklater 's "Hit Man" is for them. Like its protagonist's ability to basically change identities depending on the situation, it's a film that knows what its clients need, shifting from comedy to romance to thriller to a philosophical study of the human capacity to change. It's one of the smartest films in years, a movie ...
Hit Man (2023)
Hit Man: Directed by Richard Linklater. With Glen Powell, Adria Arjona, Austin Amelio, Retta. A professor moonlighting as a hit man of sorts for his city police department, descends into dangerous, dubious territory when he finds himself attracted to a woman who enlists his services.
'Hit Man' Review: It's a Hit, Man
In a movie starring a philosophy professor, that's especially funny, a wry joke on us all. But there's more surprising philosophical depth in "Hit Man" than meets the eye. While on the ...
'Hit Man' Review: Linklater's Lark About a Dweeb Who Goes ...
'Hit Man' Review: Richard Linklater's Fun True-Life Lark Stars Glen Powell as a Dweeb Who Goes Undercover as a Contract Killer Reviewed at Venice Film Festival, Sept. 4, 2023.
'Hit Man' review: Richard Linklater delivers the year's most killer
Review of 'Hit Man,' a comedy film by Richard Linklater starring Glen Powell as a real fake assassin.
Hit Man (2023 film)
Hit Man is a 2023 American romantic comedy film produced and directed by Richard Linklater, who co-wrote the screenplay with Glen Powell. The film stars Powell, Adria Arjona, Austin Amelio, Retta, and Sanjay Rao. It follows an undercover New Orleans police contractor who poses as a reliable hitman as he tries to save a woman in need.
Hit Man review: Linklater's latest is full of 'humanity and charm'
Richard Linklater's New Orleans crime yarn starring Glen Powell is "delightful" and "genuinely fun", writes Nicholas Barber from the Venice Film Festival.
Hit Man
Rotten Tomatoes, home of the Tomatometer, is the most trusted measurement of quality for Movies & TV. The definitive site for Reviews, Trailers, Showtimes, and Tickets
Review: 'Hit Man' is good. It's very good
Comfortably Linklater's best movie since Boyhood, Hit Man stands alongside School of Rock for big laughs and good vibes - albeit with a darker streak that slowly kicks in. The supporting cast ...
Hit Man review: Richard Linklater's seriously funny assassin comedy
'Hit Man' review: Richard Linklater's screwball assassin comedy is serious fun The 'School Of Rock' and 'Boyhood' director hits the target again
'Hit Man' Review
Glen Powell is having a ball in Hit Man, one of the most thoroughly entertaining films of Richard Linklater's career. Read on for our review.
Hit Man Review: Richard Linklater's Wild Genre-Bender Takes ...
"Hit Man" is a well-rounded film that succeeds on multiple levels, and is easily one of the highlights of the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival.
Hit Man Review
Glen Powell achieves certified movie-star status and Adria Arjona shines in this slick, seductive romantic thriller. Don't let it get buried in your Netflix watch list.
'Hit Man' Review: This Movie Proves Glen Powell Is a Star
Richard Linklater's 'Hit Man,' now on Netflix, is a genuinely fresh addition to the assassin genre. If Glen Powell's not already a star, this movie will do it.
Hit Man Ending Explained
Summary. Hit Man's ending takes creative liberties with a real story, adding dark twists and turns for a thrilling conclusion. Gary's evolution into a hitman persona reveals layers of his character and desires, leading to unexpected actions. The film explores themes of identity and transformation, with the ending offering a satisfying payoff to ...
Hit Man Review: Breezy Comedy Is Richard Linklater's Cure For What Ails
4.0. From director Richard Linklater comes Hit Man, a 2023 action comedy film based on a Texas Monthly article of the same name. Undercover and trying to catch a group of criminals, a Houston police officer poses as a hitman until he falls for a woman on assignment.
Hit Man Movie Review
Twisty thriller-comedy has sex, language, and violence. Read Common Sense Media's Hit Man review, age rating, and parents guide.
'Hit Man' Review: Should You Watch Glen Powell's New Movie on Netflix?
Acquired by Netflix after a strong debut on the 2023 film festival circuit, Hit Man strikes at the perfect time for burgeoning leading man Glen Powell. After taking to the skies with Tom Cruise in 2022's blockbuster smash Top Gun: Maverick, Powell's stock has continued to rise in the past two years with his roles in the Korean War film Devotion and, of course, his major breakout role ...
Hit Man
Inspired by an unbelievable true story, a strait-laced professor discovers his hidden talent as a fake hit man. He meets his match in a client who steals his heart and ignites a powder keg of deception, delight, and mixed-up identities.
The true story behind 'Hit Man': All about Gary Johnson
Here's the true story behind 'Hit Man', Richard Linklater's new Netflix caper comedy inspired by a real undercover operative and would-be assassin, Gary Johnson.
Review: Hit Man (2023)
Review: Hit Man (2023) — 3 Brothers Film. is a classical Hollywood film in many respects. It blends various genres, most notably film noir and romantic comedy, and has a decidedly 1940s approach to entertainment that relies on star power, romantic chemistry, and a willingness to play its seemingly dark subject matter for laughs.
Hit Man is the best Netflix movie this year
Following a critically-acclaimed journey through film festivals last year and after a limited two-week theatrical release, Hit Man is now officially the best Netflix movie of 2024. Related ...