In the vast Montana wilderness, Hannah (Angelina Jolie), a firefighter suffering from past trauma, encounters Connor (Finn Little), a bewildered, distraught and bloodied boy on the run from two relentless assassins (Nicholas Hoult, Aidan Gillen) after they murdered his father. It’s only a matter of time before either the cold-blooded killers dispatch Connor – unless Hannah and local Deputy Sherriff Ethan Sawyer (Jon Bernthal) can prevent this imminent violence – or a fire they set ablaze incinerates almost everything in the forest’s midst.
Writer-director Taylor Sheridan has never gravitated toward narrative bells and whistles in his signature dramatic thrillers, and in adapting Michael Koryta’s 2014 novel of the same name, he maintains those lean sensibilities. At his best, he imbues his work with incisive examinations of underrepresented areas of the United States from the deep corruption of law enforcement on the chaotic U.S.-Mexican border in Sicario to the devastating marginalization of Native Americans in a desolate Wyoming reservation in Wind River. While Sheridan’s newest feature -another neo-western- lacks the depth of those spectacular pictures, it certainly compensates with wallops of unrelenting intensity.
Those Who Wish Me Dead is suspense filmmaking at its most elemental. Sheridan smartly retains the vivid sense of place that has defined his unique style, and that once again elevates one of his films above its broader strokes. This script holds few insights, but astute decisions by Sheridan behind the screen prove unshakably engaging. Wide shots of the pure, almost ethereal environment efficiently communicate a setting that will be tarnished by the evil and affected by the good at the story’s center. An exchange at the beginning about an irreversibly changed modern America – and the contrasting one that was originally forged by Lewis and Clark –particularly cements this dual dichotomy of humanity’s relationship with its environment and each other. Choices like these expound the formula beyond its tropes into a trio of universally compelling simplicities- man vs. nature; man vs. man; and, most innately, Earth vs. fire.
The stakes and plot here are straightforward, but this film pulsates to deliriously entertaining effect. Sheridan keeps everything concise and palpable, and though this renders some sections rather choppy and an ending that is not entirely fulfilling, this efficiency was the most ideal for storytelling with this little dimension. He understands and executes the optimal time for countless reveals, like ash raining down on the combatants in the finale or a lightning storm dismantling communications in a tower.
Most elements are undoubtedly familiar, but Sheridan knows how to make them interesting. Deputy Sherriff Sawyer does have a pregnant wife (Medina Senghore) who is used as a pawn by the assassins, but she is also a fierce, extremely proficient markswoman who wields a rifle on horseback later in the film. Reader, I seldom cheer or clap during a movie, but I did that in spades with the line “It hates you back.”
Congruent with all its other conventions, this simple thriller is a throwback to populist films of 1990s, particularly in how it depends on its actors for emotional texture. Jolie utilizes her famous movie star verve to engrossing effect, and child star Little acts several scenes quite poignantly. The rest of the cast is strong, adeptly filling out their provided molds.
Those Who Wish Me Dead is a supremely visceral and smoldering venture into the chaos of the Montana wilderness- and its most naturally conflicting beings battling down to the ember. You may wish for something a bit more nuanced, but Taylor Sheridan’s latest offering of survivalist thrills definitely will not leave your nerves dead.
Grade: B
Those Who Wish Me Dead is available via streaming services such as Amazon Prime and DVD.
Photo Credit / Warner Brothers
