Gus Van Sant’s latest film Dead Man’s Wire is a thriller that left me sitting firmly on the back of my seat, but this isn’t necessarily a criticism. Rather it’s a praise of a film that reels you in with a shocking premise, but actually leaves you with much more to mull over.
Dead Man’s Wire follows the true story of Tony Kiritsis (Bill Skarsgard), an Indianapolis man who enters the office of the Richard Hall (Dacre Montgomery), the President of Meridian Mortgage, wraps a wire rigged to set off a shot gun around his neck and begins a three day long hostage situation. Kiritsis had taken out a loan from Meridian Mortgage and bought a 17-acre property to turn into a shopping center – but failed to attract investors and failed to repay his loans on time. He believed that Hall, and the company, had been directly sabotaging him, thus decides to embark on a form of vigilante justice.
What I really enjoyed about Van Sant’s film was the ability to make you reflect on the characters and their motives, making the film feel less like a thriller and more of a discussion on an individual’s psychology and breaking point. As you follow Tony and his actions, he is presented as someone very kind, he remembers the name of the receptionist at Meridian Mortgage and asks after her, a member of the police force recognises him from drinking together at a sports bar and seems surprised at his criminality. This is played in contrast to Al Pacino’s (frankly fantastic) performance as the CEO of Meridian Mortgage (Richard Hall’s father, L M Hall). From his first appearance, patronisingly dismissing a waiter for cutting his burrito in half instead of thirds, to his chilling delivery of how if the shotgun fires and kills Richard, he will “mourn the loss of one of [his] sons”, L M Hall is perfectly set up as the villain to Tony’s hero – the King John to his Robin Hood – that allows the viewer to begin to understand how Tony could’ve come to the conclusion of foul play when working with such a callous person. Further illuminated by later scenes interspersed with classic John Wayne westerns and Tony’s impassioned, rambling speeches that he demands be broadcast to the masses, wherein he describes himself as a hero of the people, it’s an enjoyable journey to travel through his mindset. From the early scene of Tony fleeing the scene with Hall and being followed by police cars, scored by Cannock Chase by Labi Siffre, you know he’s being presented as your atypical criminal.
And yet, this is a bit of a double edged sword. So much of the film is spent sifting through these feelings that it quickly begins to lose tension. It seemed clear that Tony knew his actions were wrong but still believed them to be proportional to the quote unquote sabotage he had endured and it seemed clear that actually killing Richard would become a step too far and be an unequal response. Even as he appeared to become more frantic throughout the film, there are still instances of him treating Richard with some semblance of kindness that made it difficult to believe he would actually kill him. Adding on that once the pair were no longer on the move, the dead man’s wire held much less potential for being accidentally set off, the situation felt greatly de-escalated. Although it is still enjoyable to watch Tony and Richard’s interactions, and to be let in on what might have happened in Tony’s apartment, away from the watchful eye of the media, there really lacks a feeling of peril. This may be purposeful, referring to how thought through Tony’s plan is, how he wishes to feel back in control of a situation he has become lost in, but it manages to trade this out for any high pumping adrenaline, which I think many would find disappointing.
With such films like this, it is often that the performances are what makes it. Alexander Skarsgard is fantastic throughout, flipping between Tony’s range of emotions so easily and being a driving force in presenting Tony as so multifaceted. Colman Domingo was also a particular favourite of mine as Fred Temple, a radio show host that Tony begins to confide in throughout the story. His ability to move from being smooth talking and charismatic to having a quiet edge of fear and distress as someone who has been pulled into a bizarre situation is really wonderful to see.
Overall, Dead Man’s Wire is not your typical thriller. It takes a slower, more reflective pace and allows you to really begin thinking about how Tony Kiritsis is being presented to you and how you feel about his motivation and actions. If you are looking for something that will get your heart racing, this maybe isn’t the choice, but if you want to spend an afternoon reflecting on criminality then I would absolutely recommend you check it out.
Dead Man’s Wire is out in UK cinemas on Friday 20th March.
