Directed by Taylor Sheridan
Starring Angelina Jolie, Finn Little, Jon Bernthal, Aidan Gillen, Nicholas Hoult, Medina Senghore and Jake Weber

Based on the novel of the same name by Michael Koryta, Those Who Wish Me Dead peaks early before gradually dipping until it ultimately disappoints.

The lives of more than a handful of characters converge when two ruthless assassins, Jack and Patrick Blackwell (played by Aidan Gillen and Nicholas Hoult) go in pursuit of Owen Casserly (Jake Weber), a single father who is in possession of secret and incriminating information they are after. Their hunt leads them to the Montana wilderness where the local Sheriff, Ethan Sawyer (Jon Bernthal) and wilderness survival expert and firefighter Hannah Faber (Angelina Jolie) become unwittingly embroiled.

During the time Those Who Wish Me Dead was at the height of its early peak, I was rapt by the elaborate and convincing construction of the entire plot and how the lives of its characters crossed paths. While spending time establishing each of the characters and developing their backstories, the film immediately summons and continues to build great suspense-filled drama. The callousness and prowess of the antagonists and the vulnerabilities of the protagonists are evident early. For instance, Hannah is deeply troubled by a past traumatic event that claimed the lives of three children, Ethan’s wife Allison (Medina Senghore) is 6 months pregnant with the couple’s first baby and Owen is on the run with his young son, Connor (A hugely impressive performance from Australian actor Finn Little) in tow. What these characters stand to lose and also what Hannah may have to gain are really well defined and like I said, bring plenty of tension to the drama.

The decline begins not long after a new development is introduced to the central plot. As it engulfs the second half of the movie, a lot of the films hard-earned credibility is torched courtesy of the disappointing lack of attention to detail in the writing and its untidy execution. Furthermore and without revealing what they are, a pretty significant wrong call is made that costs the film several minutes of maintaining its tension to a stronger degree and the plot leaves a couple of unanswered questions, one of which may be unforgivable for some. Both of these occur during its final minutes.

Truth be told, I expected much better and more careful thought to be applied from the man who wrote the Oscar-nominated screenplay for Hell or High Water and the riveting and tension-filled Sicario films.

Those Who Wish Me Dead is showing in cinemas across Australia from May 6.

Moviedoc thanks Universal Pictures for the invitation to the screening of this film.

Review by Leigh for Moviedoc

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