Ultra-Violent Comedy Thriller With Rotten Critic Score Deserves Another Chance
If you’re anything like me, you likely spent the early years of your Netflix subscription randomly browsing from the streamer’s extensive library of films, picking movies seemingly at random without any regard for their critical acclaim. One such film, which I recall watching during my time in college, caught my eye with a fascinating cast, stylish trailer, and an intriguing title- Kill Me Three Times. Though the film didn’t have the staying power of some other streaming smash-hits, I recall really enjoying it, so you can imagine my surprise when I looked Kill Me Three Times up this week, only to learn that it has an abysmal critic score of 16 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.
Kill Me Three Times
For those interested in giving this thrilling crime comedy another chance, Kill Me Three Times is currently streaming on a ton of different free-with-ads services, so there’s really no reason not to give it a fair shake.
The film is an Australian production, shot on location in Western Australian locales such as Margaret River and Victoria. James McFarland is credited with penning the screenplay for Kill Me Three Times, while Australian filmmaker Kriv Stenders helmed the project as a director.
A Random Choice
Like many people mindlessly scrolling through streaming services in search of a random film, my first inclination to watch Kill Me Three Times came from seeing a few familiar faces on the movie’s poster.
Simon Pegg leads the cast of the movie, as private investigator and assassin extraordinaire Charlie Wolfe. Pegg is joined in the limited cast by Alice Braga, Teresa Palmer, Callan Mulvey, Bryan Brown, and Luke Hemsworth.
The Story
The narrative of Kill Me Three Times centers on Wolfe as he juggles a handful of contracts from several clients seeking his outside-of-the-law services. These clients include a wealthy motel owner who believes his wife is having an affair, a dentist with a serious gambling issue, and a corrupt police officer who wants a cut of all the illicit action taking place in his city.
As each of these wacky characters find their goals intersecting with one another, a tangled web of interpersonal fraud, assault, and conspiracy begins to descend upon the town, sending each of the key players into a tailspin.
Critical Reception
Before long, Charlie Wolfe finds himself at the center of a major SNAFU, which threatens his livelihood, and even his life. Kill Me Three Times has been maligned by critics for borrowing too heavily from the work of more established filmmakers such as Quentin Tarantino or the Coen brothers, while delivering a sub-par love letter to the neo-noir genre.
While I can certainly see why critics may have reached this conclusion, I think it’s a bit unfair to the project, which stands perfectly fine on its own, in my eyes.
Sure, the hyper-violent set-pieces are reminiscent of films like Kill Bill, while the overlapping character motivations bring movies like Fargo to the front of the brain. Sure, the film couldn’t manage to secure one of the more well-known Hemsworth brothers.
But at the end of the day, Kill Me Three Times packs a fun and against-type performance from Simon Pegg, a semi-complex narrative, and an explosive climax that will leave you wanting more.
Stream It Now
GFR SCORE
Those interested in checking out Kill Me Three Times have a veritable laundry list of options to do so. The film is currently streaming on Tubi, Sling TV, The Roku Channel, Crackle, Plex, and more. Just be sure to go in with an open mind, and see for yourself if the film is worth overlooking the negative critical response.
