Film Review: "Those Who Wish Me Dead" (2021).

"From the writer of Sicario and the co-creator of Yellowstone" comes Those Who Wish Me Dead. This neo-Western survival action thriller film directed by Taylor Sheridan, adapted by Sheridan, Michael Koryta and Charles Leavitt, and based on Koryta's novel of the same name. The film follows Hannah, a smoke jumper who is reeling from the loss of three lives she failed to save from a fire, and comes across a traumatized twelve‐year‐old boy with nowhere else to turn.

By May 2019, Angelina Jolie, Nicholas Hoult, Aidan Gillen, Jon Bernthal, Tyler Perry, Jake Weber, Tory Kittles and Finn Little were cast in an adaptation of Koryta's novel of the same name with Sheridan, Koryta and Leavitt penning the adaptation and Sheridan as director. Sheridan was initially brought on to just rewrite the script, but when the original direct dropped out of the project, he ultimately hired to direct. At the same time, principal photography commenced and wrapped in July. Filming took place in Albuquerque, Santa Clara, Bernalillo, and Rio Arriba County, New Mexico. Warner Bros. Pictures and New Line Cinema scheduled the film for a May 14, 2021 release date. As part of its plans for all of its 2021 films, Warner Bros. will also stream the film simultaneously on the HBO Max service for a period of one month, after which the film will be removed until the normal home media release schedule period.

The film stars Jolie, Hoult, Gillen, Bernthal, Perry, Weber, Kittles and Little. Jolie proves as safe a pair of hands as ever, grounding the emotion and making this into much more than the formulaic pic it could've become.

After directing Wind River, Sheridan makes his sophomore effort, blending suspense thriller, western ruggedness, and crime meditations in a unique setting. Like the land in which it takes place, the film is a harsh and relentless one. It's an intense slow burn that leads to a climax that gives up its revelation in a quick and explosive burst. As a writer, Sheridan has already proven himself. As a director, I consider this somewhat of a practice round. A taut, cold mystery, and a strong directorial offering, especially for a filmmaker with only one other feature under his belt. The film features a tense, atmospheric mystery, drama sustained by the protagonist. It's an exercise in great storytelling, character development, superior acting, and establishing a sense of location that brings us unsettlingly close to facing our own prejudices. The film is as much of a gritty thriller as it is a character study. While the former sometimes suffers in service of the latter, the film is, in the end, greater than the sum of its parts. An ambitious film, a little sloppy, but invigorating, well-made, well-acted, gorgeously photographed. It's poetic in its visuals and, as is tradition with Westerns, its justice. More predictable than it is a disappointment, the film may not be incredibly nuanced, but is more often than not enjoyable.

Simon says Those Who Wish Me Dead receives:

Also, see my review for Wind River.