Those Who Wish Me Dead

Although the plot to this thriller feels very familiar, director/co-writer Taylor Sheridan manages to inject nail-biting levels of tension into every set-piece, and the cast really bring the material to life.

Premise: When a young boy witnesses two assassins (Aidan Gillen and Nicholas Hoult) murder his father, he goes on the run in the wilderness of Montana’s forests. There, the local sheriff (Jon Bernthal) and a traumatised smokejumper (Angelina Jolie) may be his only chances for survival.

Review:

Reading the above synopsis for Those Who Wish Me Dead, you’d be forgiven for thinking you were reading a summary for any one of the many 90s thrillers that involved a Hero with a Tragic PastTM having to protect a Wide-Eyed ChildTM who is being hunted down by Highly-Trained AssassinsTM because he holds the key to blowing a huge conspiracy wide open. So far, so Mercury Rising. Then throw in a little bit of criminals-versus-the-environment subtext (with flavours of 1985’s Witness and 1988’s Deadly Pursuit), and the result – on paper, at least – sounds very derivative.

But it’s fair to say that, despite an overly-familiar plot that never goes anywhere too unexpected, the filmmakers involved in Those Who Wish Me Dead are able to elevate what could otherwise be fairly uninspiring material. And top of the list of those deserving praise for making this film as gripping as it is, is co-writer and director Taylor Sheridan.

“…Taylor Sheridan wrings every last drop of tension & suspense from each set up…”

Taylor Sheridan is arguably still best known for writing the critically acclaimed Sicario and its surprisingly good sequel Sicario 2: Soldado, but he also wrote the excellent neo-Western crime thriller Hell or High Water, and wrote and directed the underrated detective thriller Wind River. While his original scripts have often tackled fairly topical and meaty subject matters, Those Who Wish Me Dead is an adaptation of an existing novel, which perhaps explains why it feels a little more generic that his other scripts.

That said, one of the things that Taylor Sheridan excels at with his scripts (and in both his directorial efforts) is cranking up the tension in what could otherwise (on paper) be fairly straightforward action sequences. If you think of the border crossing scene in Sicario, the heist in Hell or High Water, or most of Wind River, you’ll know that Taylor Sheridan is an expert at writing (and directing) in a way that wrings every last drop of tension and suspense from a set up.

“…I was particularly impressed with Aidan Gillen & Jon Bernthal…”

Those Who Wish Me Dead is no different in that respect. Without straying into spoiler territory, it’s fair to say that whenever the assassins (Aidan Gillen and Nicholas Hoult) have a scene with a character, you could cut the tension with a knife – and when the violence does erupt, it does so suddenly and brutally. This is also a film that, for the most part, plays the scenes fairly realistically, meaning that no one is ever really safe.

The cast is great, and everyone really helps to make the film so much more than its familiar premise suggests. I was particularly impressed with Aidan Gillen’s sardonic assassin, and Jon Bernthal’s no-nonsense deputy sheriff, but Nicholas Hoult acts as a good foil to Gillen, and although Angelina Jolie is saddled with the most clichéd character (the hero with the tragic past), she finds ways to breathe life into it, especially with her interactions with the kid she has to get to safety. And alongside all of the well-known names, the relative unknown Medina Senghore makes an unexpectedly big impressive in one of her biggest roles to date.

“…elevated by the talent in front of & behind the camera…”

All in all, Taylor Sheridan’s propulsive script and taut direction elevate what is, when all is said and done, a fairly by-the-numbers thriller – but thanks to the talent in front of and behind the camera, Those Who Wish Me Dead is definitely worth a watch.