Hollywood has always been entangled with the reflections of life, death, crime, and all the chaos in between. To this day, gun-swinging, charismatic assassins or hitmen, who can turn anything around them into fatal weapons populate our screens and interest viewers and filmmakers alike. On one hand, we have the John Wicks of the world, and on the other, the noirish hired guns who like to philosophize about their kills through voiceover.

Seeing the popularity of assassins, many filmmakers have attempted to satirize the genre in the past by adding elements of dark comedy to the bloody mixture of violence, stunts, and philosophy. Martin McDonagh’s In Bruges and David Leitch’s Bullet Train are examples of comedies surrounding assassins who are killers as much as they are jesters, and the HBO series Barry, starring Bill Hader, also brilliantly satirizes the trope of the traumatized assassin and Hollywood’s fascination with the same.

Richard Linklater's Hit Man looks to find a middle ground as the action-packed noir thriller filters the hitman tropes through lighthearted moments and a darkly comedic lens. Featuring Glen Powell, in a star-making turn he wrote for himself, the film explores an undercover mission turned into an impossible romance. If an intriguing new film from one of our best modern filmmakers sounds as exciting to you as it does to us, read our guide below to learn everything we know about Richard Linklater’s Hit Man.

Editor's Note: This piece was updated on April 18, 2024.

Does 'Hit Man' Have a Release Date?

Hit Man is set to stream on Netflix on June 7, 2024, right in the midst of the summer movie season. Hit Man will be joining an exciting lineup of titles arriving on Netflix during the summer movie season, including Atlas starring Jennifer Lopez, Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F starring Eddie Murphy, Unfrosted starring Jerry Seinfeld, and The Union starring Mark Wahlberg.

Hit Man had its world premiere at the 80th Venice International Film Festival on September 5, 2023. Soon after that, it had its North American premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 11. The film has been extremely well received at both festivals, as evident from Ross Bonaime's review for Collider, which you can read right here.

Netflix purchased the distribution rights for Hit Man for a whopping $20 million, which made it the biggest purchase at TIFF 2023. Hit Man wasn't the only buzzy film that the streamer bought at the festival as it also acquired Anna Kendrick's directorial debut Woman of the Hour and the Elizabeth Olsen-led drama His Three Daughters.

Will 'Hit Man' Receive a Theatrical Release?

While Netflix will be distributing Hit Man and releasing it on the service on June 7, they have announced that the film will receive a limited theatrical release on May 24, 2024. This isn't new territory for Netflix as many of their films have received limited theatrical releases to qualify for awards. Most recently, titles such as David Fincher's The Killer and Bradley Cooper's Maestro received theatrical releases before landing on the streaming service.

Is There a Trailer for 'Hit Man'?

Netflix released the first teaser trailer for Hit Man on January 22, 2024. Set to "Apples, Peaches, Pumpkin Pie" by Jay & The Techniques, the first look highlights the film's comically dark tone, mixing elements of crime movies and romantic comedies.

The second trailer for Hit Man was released by Netflix on April 18, 2024. Set to Santa Esmeralda's cover of "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood," the trailer captures the movie's central romance between the characters played by Powell and Arjona.

What Is 'Hit Man' About?

Hit Man is about an ordinary philosophy professor named Gary Johnson, who's devoted all his time to devouring Kant and taking care of his cats Id and Ego, with no time for any thrills or a dating life for that matter. Gary decides to help out the police in small undercover gigs for surveillance and ends up pretending to be a hired assassin, and quickly discovers that he's good at it owing to his understanding of the human condition. The job eventually takes Gary to Madison, who hires Gary to kill someone for her. Their first meeting establishes their instant chemistry and an interesting dynamic, which forms the crux of the film.

Linklater takes the fairly standard setup for a compelling noir and finds the underlying dark humor and philosophical questions, and the result is a darkly thrilling romp that keeps you on the edge of your seats and has you gasping for breath despite Linklater's usual laid-back style. Inspired by a true story published in the Texas Monthly, the film often feels like a meta-exploration of the art of acting itself, and has a lot of things going on with a busy plot unlike most of Linklater's films, which he commented on in an interview with Collider:

"Yeah, this one was kind of different for me, if anyone wants to look too closely. It's a little more plotty, there's twists and turns, and I felt like, “I'm in a genre here. I'm trying to deliver in the film noir genre and the screwball comedy.” This is very plotty, and it turns, and we're manipulating the audience, so they have to be oriented in a certain way. So, it's not my usual flow, but I mean, that was the fun challenge."

The official synopsis for Hit Man from Netflix reads:

Oscar-nominated director Richard Linklater’s sunlit neo-noir stars Glen Powell as strait-laced professor Gary Johnson, who moonlights as a fake hit man for the New Orleans Police Department. Preternaturally gifted at inhabiting different guises and personalities to catch hapless people hoping to bump off their enemies, Gary descends into morally dubious territory when he finds himself attracted to one of those potential criminals, a beautiful young woman named Madison (Adria Arjona). As Madison falls for one of Gary’s hit man personas — the mysteriously sexy Ron — their steamy affair sets off a chain reaction of play acting, deception, and escalating stakes. Co-written by Linklater and Powell and inspired by an unbelievable true story, Hit Man is a cleverly existential comedy about identity.

Who Stars in 'Hit Man'?

Glen Powell plays the leading man in Hit Man, in what many are calling his breakout performance. Powell puts his charisma and acting chops on full display in a role that sees him don many avatars and a wild array of outfits that come together in this delightfully fun turn as a fake hitman. 2023 is shaping up to be a big year for the Top Gun: Maverick star, with the raunchy rom-com Anyone But You co-starring Sydney Sweeney releasing in December, and seems poised to shoot the actor further into superstardom. This isn't Powell's first time working with Linklater, having previously appeared in Fast Food Nation, Everybody Wants Some!!, and Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood. In an interview with Collider, Linklater praised Powell as an ideal collaborator and compared him to Ethan Hawke, saying:

"Over the pandemic, he called me up with this article he had read, and I was like, 'Yeah, I read that a long time ago. I do know that story from Texas Monthly,' and then we just started collaborating on it. Glen's like the greatest guy. He's an ideal collaborator, like super smart, super funny. All we do is laugh and make each other laugh and kind of keep pushing each other, too. So, I think this thing reflects both of our greatest hits, maybe, to kind of put our sensibilities together and make this work. And I like collaborating with the actors, too. That's why I work with Ethan [Hawke]; he's a future actor, and I'm a future director, but at this moment, we're screenwriters, we're conjuring this movie together. I've done that with other actors, like I was saying. Ethan and Julie [Delpy], for instance, and Glen, such a great creative partner, just really fun."

Adria Arjona, most known for her role as Bix Caleen in Andor, plays Maddy Masters, the film's leading lady, and has received equally impressive reviews for her performance along with the undeniable instant chemistry between her and Powell that just seeps through the screen, which even director Richard Linklater couldn't help gush over.

The film also stars Austin Amelio (Everybody Wants Some!!), Retta (Parks and Recreation), comedian Sanjay Rao, Evan Holtzman (Hidden Figures), Molly Bernard (Younger), and Mike Markoff in various supporting roles.

Who Is Making 'Hit Man'?

Hit Man is directed by Richard Linklater and is written by both Linklater and Glen Powell, who makes his screenwriting debut. Linklater is one of the finest American filmmakers of his generation and has made significant contributions to the canon of cinema, including celebrated classics such as the Before Trilogy and Boyhood.

With Hit Man, the acclaimed artist looks to experiment with something new and broaden his horizon. Linklater and Powell also serve as producers on the film along with Jason Bateman, Mike Blizzard, Connor Flanagan, and Mike Costigan.

Principal photography for the film began in October 2022, in New Orleans with cinematographer Shane F. Kelly, who has worked with Linklater since 2006's A Scanner Darkly, and production wrapped in November.