The Adria Arjona Romantic Crime Movie Andor Fans Need To Watch Next

Published 1 month ago• 6 minute read

after the "Before" trilogy director penned the script with his star, Glen Powell. (Apparently, a bunch of studios passed on it, which is absurd.) Not only is "Hit Man" a ton of fun, but it's also based (somewhat loosely) on the true story of a Houston college professor who helped the police ensnare anyone looking for a hitman by posing as one (which gained notoriety, and Linklater's attention, when Skip Hollandsworth published an article of the same name in Texas Monthly in 2001), making it even wilder. So, where does Arjona come in?

Powell leads the film as Gary Johnson, a psychology and philosophy professor at a university in New Orleans who, like the subject of Hollandsworth's article, works with the New Orleans police department by recording people looking for hitmen. When an undercover detective named Jasper (Austin Amelio) ends up the subject of an internal investigation and suspended, Gary has to step in and pretend to be a hitman willing to kill for pay in Jasper's stead, and to say the guy gets really into his new gig is an understatement. (Personally, my favorite of Gary's costumes is the one that closely resembles actor Tilda Swinton, which we only see in a montage.) Arjona's character, Madison, then tries to hire Gary, now masquerading as a smooth talker named Ron, to kill her horrible husband ... but instead, "Ron" and Madison end up involved, even though Madison thinks Ron is a contract killer and his name isn't Ron, it's Gary.

"Hit Man" is an unbelievable delight — really, it's one of my favorite films that came out in 2024 — and if you loved Arjona in "Andor," you definitely need to add this one to your watchlist. So, how did "Hit Man" fare with critics when it dropped on Netflix?

Ron and Madison about to kiss outside of a bar in Hit Man

Netflix

With a stunning 95% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a critical consensus that calls the movie "a deceptively dark thriller that's also loaded with laughs" and "an outstanding showcase for leading man Glen Powell — and one of the most purely entertaining films of Richard Linklater's career," it's clear that "Hit Man" was a critical success. What about individual critics? Again, look at that rating: they loved it! (/Film's own Chris Evangelista was a little more measured about this film than me, but he specifically praised Adria Arjona, writing, "As played by Adria Arjona [...] Maddy is the real secret to the film's success. As likable as Powell is, he's matched and then outdone by Arjona, who has a kind of old school movie star charm. It's very easy to understand why Gary is gaga over her.")

"'Hit Man' makes for an undeniable good time," Mark Olsen wrote in his review for the Los Angeles Times. "Sometimes, all you really need is a couple of impossibly attractive people enjoying each other's company, captured by a filmmaker who knows when to stay out of their way." Brian Tallerico agreed on RogerEbert.com, writing, "Linklater has long had a gift with playful humor, and he nails the tone here without turning 'Hit Man' into the slapstick it could have become." At The Atlantic, Shirley Li spotlighted Powell, writing, "The police scenes are just light enough to be funny, the screwball sequences are just dark enough to keep you on the edge of your seat, and Powell ... is obviously elated to be handling such twisty material." Personally, I think Nick Schager hit the nail on the head in his review for The Daily Beast: "'Hit Man' is hot and hilarious, a winning combination amplified by a story that gets knottier at every turn."

Richard Roeper, though, gave a shoutout to Arjona in the Chicago Sun-Times, writing, "In the offbeat comedy, Powell confirms his leading-man credentials and shows sizzling chemistry with co-star Adria Arjona." (That's correct; their chemistry is ridiculous.) David Sims went further in yet another review at The Atlantic: "The film's spiral into romantic drama wouldn't work without Powell and Arjona's crackling chemistry. Arjona has pulled her weight in stale supporting roles in a few bad action movies, but this is a stunning star turn."

Over at ABC News, Peter Travers was ... effusive in a strange but sort of endearing way. "Oooowee, what a scorchingly sexy thriller," he wrote. "Powered by shining new star Glen Powell, who singes the screen with wowza costar Adria Arjona, this somewhat true story from Richard Linklater adds up to one of the best and most beguiling movies of the year." You get the point: critics went wild for "Hit Man," and a few of them made sure to give Arjona her flowers.

Madison and Gary/Ron eating outside in Hit Man

Netflix

In a June 2024 interview with Elle, Adria Arjona opened up about what it was like to work on "Hit Man" with Richard Linklater and Glen Powell — and if you're at all familiar with Linklater's body of work, it likely won't be surprising to learn that Arjona got to help create the character of Madison. "I had to read the script a couple times to make up my mind on how to track Madison," Arjona told Tomris Laffly. "When I first got onto this project, Madison was like this skeleton. Rick really wanted me to help him figure out who this woman is. And that was really exciting, to be able to work with one of your favorite filmmakers in the creation of the character that you're gonna play. This never happens."

After saying that Madison goes through a lot in "Hit Man" (which was incredibly fun for her as an actor), Arjona spoke to the particular bond between Madison and Gary-slash-Ron. "She goes through many different iterations of herself," she mused. "She goes from this traumatic, weak place to this woman that is just so open and all she wants to do is learn and explore and have adventures. She comes from a controlling background and then becomes who we meet at the end — it's Madison playing house. And these two characters' love language is role play. So, I think they'll be like this forever."

Not only that, but working with someone as open to collaboration as Linklater might have inspired Arjona to step behind the camera at some point. Though she demurred and said she's not quite ready to direct yet (even though it would be an "absolute dream"), Arjona continued, "I will say Rick and Glen gave me a lot of confidence in feeling like I could be a part of that. But, you know, they very much wrote the structure and the bones of this movie. I came in [with] the creation of Madison. And that's where I feel comfortable: in the creation of my own characters. I wish I could do that in more projects."

"Hit Man" is streaming on Netflix now. What else do you want me to say? Go watch it!

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