Glen Powell's Hit Man Climbs HBO Max Charts Two Years Later

Two years after its Netflix premiere, Glen Powell's breakout comedy thriller has found fresh momentum on a different platform. Hit Man now ranks fourth among HBO Max's most-watched films worldwide, proving the staying power of Richard Linklater's genre-bending creation.

The film sits behind Leonardo DiCaprio's acclaimed drama One Battle After Another, the live-action How to Train Your Dragon adaptation, and horror entry Clown in a Cornfield. Powell collaborated with Linklater and Skip Hollandsworth on the screenplay, drawing loose inspiration from real-life figure Gary Johnson while creating fictional elements around Adria Arjona's character Madison.

From Professor to Fake Assassin

Powell portrays Gary Johnson, an academic who assists New Orleans police by posing as a contract killer to trap potential clients. The setup works until Madison enters the picture, seeking to eliminate her abusive partner. Gary's attraction to this would-be client transforms a straightforward sting operation into something far more complicated.

The official description explains: "Oscar-nominated director Richard Linklater's sunlit neo-noir stars Glen Powell as strait-laced professor Gary Johnson, who moonlights as a fake hit man for the New Orleans Police Department. Preternaturally gifted at inhabiting different guises and personalities to catch hapless people hoping to bump off their enemies, Gary descends into morally dubious territory when he finds himself attracted to one of those potential criminals, a beautiful young woman named Madison (Adria Arjona). As Madison falls for one of Gary's hit man personas — the mysteriously sexy Ron — their steamy affair sets off a chain reaction of play acting, deception, and escalating stakes."

Critical and Audience Reception

The movie walks a tightrope between erotic thriller and R-rated comedy. Critics awarded it a 95% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, while audiences responded with an 89% approval score. Professional reviewers called it a "deceptively dark thriller that's also loaded with laughs" and praised it as "an outstanding showcase for leading man Glen Powell."

Viewer reactions were equally enthusiastic. One described it as an "excellent, fast-moving movie with an outstanding performance by Glen Powell, who is quickly becoming a superstar." Another highlighted the "slick, nifty" production and the "sexy chemistry between Glen Powell and Adria Arjona."

The streaming success comes at a time when Powell's career trajectory continues upward following Anyone But You, while Arjona builds on her Andor momentum. Linklater returns to his preferred territory of smaller, character-driven narratives that often receive less mainstream attention than they deserve.