DIRECTED BY: TAYLOR SHERIDAN STARRING: ANGELINA JOLIE, FINN LITTLE, & NICHOLAS HOULT RATED R FOR STRONG VIOLENCE, AND LANGUAGE THROUGHOUT
LENGTH: 100 MINUTES
It's been over ten years since Hollywood royalty Angelina Jolie last led an action film with Salt and with Those Who Wish Me Dead she finally returns to the genre. Jolie is fairly selective about the projects she chooses nowadays, but it should be no surprise that for her latest she's teamed with one of Hollywood's best new talents in Taylor Sheridan. This film will mark Sheridan's second directorial outing with his first film being the acclaimed thriller Wind River, though that's not the only project he's been involved with as he's also written the scripts for both Sicario films, was nominated for an Academy Award for his work on Hell Or High Water, and serves on as the showrunner for the hit television series Yellowstone.
Those Who Wish Me Dead is initially set up following a string of characters including smokejumper Hannah (Jolie), 12 year-old Connor (Finn Little), deputy sheriff Ethan Sawyer (Jon Bernthal) and assassins Patrick and Jack (Nicholas Hoult & Aidan Gillen). When the assassins murder Connor's father, he immediately goes on the run and soon finds himself under the protection of Hannah, who is trying to do right by her past trauma.
First and foremost, Those Who Wish Me Dead, is far from Sheridan's best work. Those going in expecting something on the level of his previous work may leave disappointed. What the film actually is, is more of a throwback to the survivalist action movies of the 90s and in that area it excels. Sheridan may be more known as a writer, but here he truly shows what he's capable of when making a studio film. The film feels tight and the suspense looms over the course of the 100 minute runtime. From the action as well as the many of the directions the plot takes, there's plenty to enjoy here.
Jolie delivers in playing her badass hero role and also successfully shows the vulnerable side of her character as well. Little proves to be the film's breakout performer as he does a terrific job at carrying himself opposite his A-list co-star. Hoult and Gillen make for some truly vicious and unpredictable villains and their performances along add to the film's intense nature. Bernthal and Medina Sehnghore also give two strong performances and their characters help give the film a strong emotional core.
One of the most surprising as well as disappointing aspects about the film is that the script is shockingly lacking in any sense of depth outside of a few moments. It may be because of the film's quick runtime, but the film feels very bare-bones and at times even basic. It doesn't feel like the fresh-spin on a genre that Sheridan has brought to his other projects and much of the film feels fairly predictable. There's certain subplots that never feel like they're wrapped up and characters that don't serve much of a purpose other than having a name-actor playing the role.
While it'd be easy to always recommend the theater route, Those Who Wish Me Dead is the perfect example of a streaming watch. That's not an insult in the slightest, in actuality it's more of a compliment, it's the kind of film that you can switch on in the evening or the middle of the night, have a drink or two, and have an enjoyable time.
3.5/5 Stars
Those Who Wish Me Dead is now playing in theaters everywhere and is available to stream on HBO Max until June 13.