What happens when a fake hit man blurs the lines between reality and fiction? The true story of a professor going undercover acts as a starting point for Richard Linklater’s “Hit Man” (read our review). Its premise goes well beyond the events written about by Texas Monthly’s Skip Hollandsworth. Instead, the film takes a fictional journey into what could have happened between two people under different circumstances. “The general premise and the character of Gary are based on the real guy, who passed away, sadly, just a few weeks before we went into production,” Linklater told THR. “But the relationship with the woman is a complete flight of fancy — which was so fun to do because it was all so plausible.”
“Hit Man” finds a charming lead in Glen Powell, the breakout star of “Top Gun: Maverick” and “Anyone But You” who has quickly found himself on the A-list. The actor co-wrote the film with Linklater and stars as Professor Gary Johnson. Adria Arjona, who thrilled audiences in “Andor,” Austin Amelio, Retta, Sanjay Rao, Molly Bernard, and Evan Holtzman round out the cast.
Here’s the film’s official synopsis:
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.
Mike Blizzard, Richard Linklater, Glen Powell, Jason Bateman, and Michael Costigan are producers of “Hit Man.” The film comes to Netflix in select countries on June 7. It will also have a limited theatrical release before the streaming debut. Watch the new trailer below.