What if every floor of a building represented a different circle of Hell? That chilling idea fuels the blood-soaked horror-action-comedy “They Will Kill You,” arriving exclusively in cinemas March 25, 2026.
Directed and co-written by Kirill Sokolov, the film traps audiences inside The Virgil, a mysterious nine-floor building that becomes the setting for a relentless night of survival. At the center of the chaos is a young woman played by Zazie Beetz, who must fight her way through a demonic cult’s twisted lair before she becomes their next offering.
Joining Beetz in the cast are Myha’La, Paterson Joseph, Tom Felton, Heather Graham, and Patricia Arquette, forming an ensemble that fuels the film’s dark humor and brutal action.
The Virgil: A Deadly Building With Layers of Hell
At the heart of the film lies The Virgil, a seemingly luxurious condo complex hiding unspeakable horrors behind its walls.
“Our production designer is a mad genius,” Sokolov says of Jeremy Reed, who helped craft the building’s unsettling environment.
Because much of the story unfolds indoors, the creative team had to transform the structure into something visually thrilling.
“The movie mostly is inside of this Virgil building, so it’s all interior,” continues Sokolov. “Making an interior movie, you understand that people can get tired of staring at four walls, and you have to be very clever and creative in a way to make people excited – how to show the same sets differently, how to extend this world, even not leaving the place.”
The solution came from classic literature.
“The Virgil is a nine-floor building, because we used Dante’s ‘Inferno’ as inspiration, where every floor is literally a different circle of hell. That gave us this idea of how we dress the floors, what kind of theme belongs to each floor, what is actually happening on that floor. So, we used this structure to develop the visual style and design of the place.”
The concept allows the building to evolve visually and thematically as the story progresses—turning the structure itself into a character.
A Condo From Hell in the Middle of the City
Originally, the building was imagined as a remote and ominous tower. However, co-writer Alex Litvak says the team quickly realized a different approach would be even more disturbing.
Instead of isolation, they placed The Virgil right in the heart of the city.
“But we quickly pivoted and landed on the idea of an exclusive condo complex in the heart of the city – a seemingly welcoming Rosemary’s Baby-style community most would kill [or die] to live in. That helped fuel some of the film’s themes: class, disposable people, the struggle to belong, to find a home, and the cost that comes with it. We also played with the idea that each floor represents a level of Hell. At one point the metaphor was more explicit, but we felt the building was starting to overshadow the characters, so we dialed that back.”
The shift opened the door to deeper themes.
Beneath the horror, the film explores class, belonging, and the cost of finding a home. The metaphor of Hell remained part of the concept, but the filmmakers eventually softened the symbolism so the characters could stay front and center.
Still, Litvak hints that the terrifying idea might extend far beyond this one building.
“we think we’re only scratching the surface with the Virgil – and there may be more places like it all over the world…”
Watch the Trailer Here:
Escalating Action Across Every Floor
As the story climbs higher through The Virgil, the action grows increasingly wild.
Sokolov designed each level to deliver a new style of combat and spectacle.
“As we move from floor to floor, the world changes, the circles of hell changes, so the vibe of the fights and the choreography also will be different.”
The progression starts with grounded fights before exploding into larger, more stylized sequences.
We start with very grounded and naturalistic fights, a little bit exaggerated. Then we go into some kind of Viking shit with epic scale and much more graphic. Then we go full anime, crazy kung fu type of fighting. They sound different, they look different and they feel different and, I hope, bigger and bigger and bigger and more and more exciting.
The goal: make each level bigger, louder, and more exhilarating than the last.
Horror Masters Behind the Madness
The project gained extra momentum thanks to its producers: Andy Muschietti and Barbara Muschietti, the creative force behind modern horror hits “It,” “It Chapter Two,” and “Mama.”
For Litvak, their involvement felt like the perfect match.
“When we took the script to market, we were fortunate to have two competing buyers. For us, the goal wasn’t just to sell the script – it was to make the movie without losing the unconventional style and the inspired madness we had baked into the pages. The moment we met Andy and Barbara, it was clear we weren’t dealing with producers so much as fellow artists who immediately understood what we were trying to do. They believed in the tone of the film and supported our mission from the start. That ultimately made the choice to go with them a no-brainer, and it turned out to be the best decision we could have made.”
Their support ensured the filmmakers could preserve the script’s wild imagination and dark humor from page to screen.
Enter The Virgil—If You Dare
Blending explosive action, outrageous horror, and wickedly sharp comedy, “They Will Kill You” promises a uniquely bold theatrical experience.
Everyone is invited to step inside The Virgil—just don’t expect to make it out alive.
“They Will Kill You” opens only in cinemas March 25, 2026.
About “They Will Kill You”
From New Line Cinema and Nocturna, They Will Kill You unleashes a blood-soaked, high-octane horror-action-comedy in which a young woman must survive a deadly night inside The Virgil, a demonic cult’s twisted lair, before becoming their next offering.
The film stars Zazie Beetz, Myha’La, Paterson Joseph, Tom Felton, Heather Graham, and Patricia Arquette.
Directed by Kirill Sokolov and written by Sokolov & Alex Litvak, the film is produced by Andy Muschietti, Barbara Muschietti, and Dan Kagan, with executive producers Russell Ackerman, John Schoenfelder, Carl Hampe, Alex Litvak, and Kirill Sokolov.
Behind the camera, Sokolov is joined by director of photography Isaac Bauman, production designer Jeremy Reed, editor Luke Doolan, costume designer Neil McClean, and visual effects supervisor Marc Smith. The film’s score is composed by Carlos Rafael Rivera, with Andrea von Foerster as music supervisor and Richard Delia as casting director.
New Line Cinema and Nocturna present They Will Kill You, distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. The film opens in North America on March 27, 2026, and internationally beginning March 25, 2026.
Photo and Video credit: Warner Bros. Pictures
