AMC+ has a new thriller on its hands, and it wants you to believe the title character is a bored art dealer hunting assassins across northern Spain. That premise sounds like the start of a good time. Instead, Kill Jackie spends eight hours doing almost nothing with it.
The show stars Catherine Zeta-Jones as Jackie, an art dealer whose high-end sales to billionaires no longer thrill her. She suspects assassins called the Seven Demons are after her, and she decides to find them first. The plan is simple: Jackie travels from Bilbao’s turquoise coasts to the Pyrenees, facing gunmen, parkour-loving hipsters and threats involving death by vegetable peeler and liquid nitrogen.
Jackie’s Boredom Problem
Jackie compares her job to a magic trick that loses its magic once mastered. The Hollywood Reporter’s review argues the problem is simpler: there’s nothing interesting about her world.
A Lead Without Energy
Zeta-Jones plays Jackie as cool and unbothered, but the review finds the performance uninspiring. Her face rarely moves beyond mild surprise, mild disappointment or mild amusement, and her lines are thin. A standout moment comes when she speaks in her natural Welsh accent, which the review calls genuinely lovely to hear.
Costars Who Almost Save It
Some of Jackie’s costars fare better than she does. Óscar Jaenada brings weight to Zigor, a revenge-minded ex-Demon who joins Jackie. Christine Adams gives The Doc, a half-baked Demon, a wry edge under her dominatrix-by-way-of-Thom-Browne outfits. Daniel Ings stands out as Sam, a tax attorney who seems confused about how he ended up in this mess. He’s the show’s sweaty, ranting comic relief.
The Assassins Are Empty
The Seven Demons are supposed to be elite killers. On paper, they’re snazzy and dangerous. In practice, they’re as shallow as Halloween costumes. The snakeskin-boot-wearing gunman known only as The Cuban is one of them. The parkour-loving hipster Li Dong is another. Their kills are only talked about, not shown. The action that does appear — stabbings, shootouts, car chases — feels dull and perfunctory.
Poltergeist Does Everything
Jackie’s skills are mostly delegated to a shadowy organization called Poltergeist. This Iceland-based group handles her banking, finds her targets and supplies every gadget she needs. Jackie’s job is to look scared or cool while waiting for Poltergeist agents to hand her briefcases with impossible items.
Nothing Here Is Worth Watching
The review concludes there’s no there there. There’s nothing to recommend this over countless other shows across countless other networks. If you want a badass lady shooting her way across Europe, the review points to Amazon’s canceled Ride or Die or Netflix’s returning Black Doves.
The review frames the show as a misfire. The elements of a juicy potboiler are all present, but the execution is shabby. Jackie’s world is shallow, the action is empty and the performances are thin.
Key Details
– Show: Kill Jackie, AMC+
– Lead: Catherine Zeta-Jones as Jackie
– Costars: Óscar Jaenada, Christine Adams, Daniel Ings
– Creators: Tom Butterworth and Connor Keane, adapted from Nick Harkaway’s The Price You Pay
– Locations: Bilbao, Pyrenees, northern Spain
– Assassins: The Seven Demons, including The Cuban and Li Dong
– Supporting cast: Hattie Hook as Charlie, Darci Shaw as Gwen, Sidse Babett Knudsen, Raff Law, Julian Rhind-Tutt
Episode Order
| Episode | Location |
|———|———-|
| 1 | Bilbao coast |
| 2 | Northern Spain |
| 3 | Pyrenees |
| 4 | Bilbao coast |
| 5 | Northern Spain |
| 6 | Pyrenees |
| 7 | Bilbao coast |
| 8 | Northern Spain |
The Verdict
Kill Jackie is a show that promises excitement and delivers boredom. The premise is good. The execution is not. The review’s conclusion is blunt: this is a drab misfire of a thriller.
Source material: “‘Kill Jackie’ Review: Catherine Zeta-Jones Leads AMC+’s Drab Misfire of a Thriller,” The Hollywood Reporter.
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