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Films

Hit Man

Jason Friend and Lauren Friend discuss reprogramming your self.

Gary Johnson, the protagonist of Richard Linklater’s film Hit Man (2023), is a philosophy professor. In the middle of the film he poses the following question to his students: “What if your ‘self’ is a construction? An illusion, an act, a role you’ve been playing every day since you can remember?” This is the central question the film tries to explore, for Johnson is not only a philosophy professor but also an undercover agent for the New Orleans police who pretends to be a wide variety of hitmen in order to ensnare those who would purchase his murderous services.

Along the way, Gary falls for one of his would-be clients, Madison, a woman so desperate to escape her abusive marriage that she wants to hire a hitman to kill her husband. This creates an odd situation, because Gary, who is actually a soft-spoken, introverted intellectual, meets Madison when he is in character playing Ron, a charismatic alpha male who happens to kill people for a living. Gary decides to embark on his romantic relationship with Madison in the guise of Ron.

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