Kill Jackie Review: Catherine Zeta-Jones Can’t Save a Thriller With No Heart

Meet Jackie Price. She’s a high-end art dealer, wealthy as can be, and absolutely gorgeous (of course she is, it’s Catherine Zeta-Jones). Oh, and she’s also a former cocaine smuggler who’s being hunted by a squad of the world’s most dangerous hitmen.

Based on Nick Harkaway’s novel The Price You Pay, Kill Jackie is Zeta-Jones’ badass, slightly shady action hero moment all acclaimed actors are seemingly bound to have at some point in their career. From that perspective, it sounds predictable, and it is in a way. Kill Jackie is just one of many streaming services’ (this time, AMC+) chances at spotlighting a well-known actor in a short and sweet thriller series that’s purely designed for an adrenaline rush. But the problem with the mission to kill Jackie is that there’s little time to let the slower moments breathe.

Catherine Zeta-Jones Is an Absolute Force in Kill Jackie

Zigor (Óscar Jaenada) and Jackie Price (Catherine Zeta-Jones) standing in front of an ice cream truck on Kill Jackie

Kill Jackie is a fierce addition to Zeta-Jones’ filmography, having played supporting roles on television in the past few years. With Zeta-Jones also serving as executive producer, it’s clear that this project was meant for the Academy Award-winning actor, and not in a self-absorbed way. The writing and style highlights Zeta-Jones’ best qualities as a performer, whether it’s her charming Welsh accent, Jackie’s tinge of smugness, her charismatic humor, or her regrets.

Supporting Jackie is Sam, portrayed by Daniel Ings, who recently catapulted onto the scene through HBO’s A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. Ings is as hilarious in Kill Jackie as he is in that show, but this time as a bumbling lawyer way out of his element. If Resident Evil‘s Bryan is the accurate representation of a normal person at the onset of the apocalypse, then Sam is Kill Jackie‘s relatable character being chased by highly skilled assassins.

And that’s where the bracing, but pretty unstable, revenge story comes in. Out of nowhere, Jackie is suddenly the target of a hitmen group known as the Seven Demons. Instead of running, she chooses to stay and fight back. One by one, she gathers intel and new allies — including her assistant, Hattie Hook’s Charlie, and Óscar Jaenada’s Zigor — to help her take down the Seven Demons before they take her.

This is all good snazzy action and pulsating storytelling that fits into the cat-and-mouse thriller genre. Gangs of London, John Wick and Killing Eve‘s influences are clearly present, as the show was co-created by creatives from each. Kill Jackie feels very much like a spiritual sister to Killing Eve, and not just because of the semantically similar titles. Both overlap in themes that allow discussions about the unique experiences of women in the criminal underworld, and the women’s costuming also isn’t a bad sight to look at.

In Kill Jackie, Emotional Depth Is the Biggest Challenge

Sam (Daniel Ings) walking out of a plane on Kill Jackie

But Kill Jackie doesn’t have its own version of Eve and Villanelle’s intoxicating cocktail of possession and allure. It’s not like Kill Jackie needs to be a copycat (it would be worse off if it was), but its attempt at being a character-first, action-second series fails. The show tries to establish a deeply complicated, twisted personal story that breaks Jackie’s shell. But the show doesn’t have an understanding of what its central relationship is until it’s too late. By that point, there’s little reason to attach to these characters, and no point in caring.

Some characters come and go in the series, which would feel natural coming from a story where everyone’s goal is to kill each other. But one significant death pretty early on in the series is grieved for one episode and quickly forgotten about. It’s a catastrophic consequence of the show misunderstanding the emotional bonds it wants to create for Jackie. That itself makes Kill Jackie‘s first season — as it’s clearly set up to be a multi-season series — not yet realized.

But honestly, Kill Jackie‘s good qualities aren’t enough to justify a second season. It has the flashy editing, chic soundtrack and well-rounded cast, but it reads more as a routine miniseries that’ll go stale in a few months’ time. It’s a real shame, because it does have standout performers like Zeta-Jones, Ings, Darci Shaw, Christine Adams, and Ron Perlman (in the tiniest of roles). If continued, the show could greatly benefit from letting the actors’ chemistry with one another speak for itself.

All that said, Kill Jackie is a fun ride, no matter how long it is. It’s exciting to watch a woman in her 50s take the lead in a role that would usually be reserved for someone a decade or two younger. Like Zeta-Jones, Jackie Price is invincible. She just needs to tap into the bonds that keep her together.

Kill Jackie premieres October 2 on AMC+.