New Netflix movie from School of Rock director becomes one of the highest rated originals on Rotten Tomatoes with a near-perfect score

Hit Man, starring Glen Powell as the titular pseudo-assassin, has been released on Netflix with massive critical acclaim.

The action-comedy currently sits at a 97% Fresh Rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a 93% audience score. Hit Man stars Powell as Gary Johnson, professor of psychology and philosophy at the University of New Orleans who assists the NOLA police in various sting operations. Gary suddenly finds himself posing as a phony hitman in order to save a woman (Adria Arjona) in peril – who he, of course, falls deeply in love with.

Richard Linklater directs from a screenplay he co-wrote with Powell, which is based on the 2001 true crime article by Ski Hollandsworth. The filmmaker watched tapes of the cases that the real-life Gary Johnson worked on, even pulling out a catchphrase that Powell would go on to use in the film. The cast includes Austin Amelio, Sanjay Rao, Molly Bernard, and Evan Holtzman.

People Magazine called the film "a complete original, with a magical quirkiness all its own," with Slate referring to it as a "cozy hangout movie."  Decider wrote that Linklater's goal is to "make us laugh, not disturb us, and he succeeds, whether trafficking in satirical caricature or coyly toying with irony." Our own review calls it "a damn good time at the movies that will leave you buzzing."

Hit Man is streaming now on Netflix. For more, check out our list of the most exciting upcoming movies in 2024 and beyond, or, skip right to the good stuff with our list of movie release dates.