Those Who Wish Me Dead is a 2021 American neo-Western action thriller film directed by Taylor Sheridan with a screenplay by Michael Koryta, Charles Leavitt, and Sheridan, based on Koryta's novel of the same name. The film follows a boy (Finn Little) who witnesses the murder of his father and goes on the run with a smokejumper (Angelina Jolie) in the Montana wilderness to escape a pair of assassins (Nicholas Hoult and Aidan Gillen) hired to silence him; Jon Bernthal, Medina Senghore, and Jake Weber also star.
Those Who Wish Me Dead premiered on May 5, 2021 in South Korea, and was released in the United States on May 14 by Warner Bros. Pictures under the New Line Cinema banner, both in theaters and digitally for one month on HBO Max. The film received mixed reviews from critics.
Owen Casserly, a forensic accountant, learns about the death of his boss and family in an apparent gas explosion; they were actually murdered by assassins Jack and Patrick Blackwell.
Believing he is the next target, Owen goes on the run with his son, Connor. He intends to seek refuge with his brother-in-law, Ethan Sawyer, a Deputy Sheriff, and Hannah's ex-boyfriend. They are ambushed by the Blackwells, who force them off the road and down a cliff. As Owen dies, he gives Connor evidence against the Blackwells' employer, mob boss Arthur Phillip.
As Ethan discovers Owen's car wreck, Hannah stumbles upon Connor while out on patrol. She takes him back to the tower to contact help. Arthur instructs the Blackwells to hunt Connor down and kill him. As a diversion to preoccupy the police, they use flares to start a forest fire. They go to Ethan's house searching for Connor and find and interrogate Ethan's wife, Allison, who is pregnant. When they force her to call Ethan, she gives him a duress code; she then fights off the Blackwells and escapes.
Hannah discovers that a lightning strike disabled the radio at the lookout tower during an electrical storm. She attempts to take Connor into town on foot, but they are forced to turn back when the fire blocks their path. Following the radio call, Ethan returns home with the Sheriff, aiming to protect Allison. However, the Blackwells ambush them; they kill the Sheriff and force Ethan to guide them through the woods.
The Blackwells arrive at Hannah's fire tower and force Ethan to search it as they observe from a tree. Hannah and Connor hide while Ethan attempts to make it appear as if the tower is empty. After Patrick sees that Ethan seems to be talking to someone, the Blackwells shoot up the tower. Ethan is injured, but Hannah and Connor manage to escape. The Blackwells try to follow them but are stopped when Allison, having tracked them down, starts shooting at them. Patrick and Jack split up, with Patrick pursuing Hannah and Connor while Jack stays behind to fight Allison; Allison gains the upper hand and kills Jack.
Connor runs ahead while Hannah distracts Patrick but returns after Patrick threatens to beat Hannah to death. As Patrick is about to kill Connor, Hannah severely injures Patrick with a climbing axe and leaves him to burn to death in the approaching fire. Allison reunites with Ethan in the tower, but the fire traps them as they put on oxygen masks and hold each other. Hannah and Connor jump into a stream and watch from under the water as the fire engulfs the forest.
In the morning after the fire has burned out, Hannah's old smoke-jumping team arrives and rescues her, Connor, and Allison. Ethan has died from earlier injuries. Connor later prepares to give his father's evidence to the media. Hannah promises to help him through his uncertain future.
Casting
- Angelina Jolie as Hannah
- Finn Little as Connor
- Nicholas Hoult as Patrick
- Aidan Gillen as Jack
- Jon Bernthal as Ethan
- Medina Senghore as Allison
- Jake Weber as Owen
- Tyler Perry as Arthur
- James Jordan as Ben
- Tory Kittles as Ryan
It was announced in January 2019 that Angelina Jolie would star in the film, with Taylor Sheridan writing and directing, and Tyler Perry producing. By April, Nicholas Hoult, Tyler Perry, Jon Bernthal, and Aidan Gillen were among new cast who joined the film. Filming began in May 2019 in New Mexico, with production concluding in July 2019 and an announcement that James Jordan had been cast. The film's score was composed by Brian Tyler.
In May 2019, it was announced Warner Bros. Pictures and New Line Cinema acquired distribution rights to the film. The film had a theatrical debut internationally in South Korea on May 5, 2021. In the United States, it was released on May 14, 2021. 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.
As of June 17, 2021, Those Who Wish Me Dead has grossed $57.3 million in the United States and Canada, and $16.5 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $73.8 million.
In the United States, the film was released alongside Spiral, Profile, and Finding You, and was projected to gross $4–5 million from 3,188 theaters in its opening weekend. The film made $880,000 on its first day and went on to debut to $2.8 million, finishing third at the box office. The audience was evenly split between males and females, with 81% being over the age of 25. In its second weekend the film dropped 35% to $1.8 million.
Outside the U.S. the film made $2.8 million from 33 countries in its second weekend, including opening in first in Australia ($981,000 from 249 screens, and grossing $410,000 in Russia (from 904 screens), for a running international total of $4.3 million.
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 63% of 200 critic reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.7/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "A squarely traditional '90s-style action thriller, Those Who Wish Me Dead is elevated by Taylor Sheridan's propulsive direction." According to the review aggregator Metacritic, which sampled 41 reviews and calculated a weighted average of 59 out of 100, Those Who Wish Me Dead received "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale, while PostTrak reported 72% of audience members gave it a positive score, with 44% saying they would definitely recommend it.
Writing for Variety, Peter Debruge said: "As directed by Taylor Sheridan, Those Who Wish Me Dead offers a much bigger sandbox for the gifted actor-turned-action maven, whose scripts for Sicario and Hell or High Water have launched him to the front of a genre dominated by CG robots, superheroes and other IP once associated with Saturday morning cartoons. Such movies are plenty popular, but this one marks a welcome departure — one intended for grown-ups seeking more 'realistic' diversion — without shortchanging audiences when it comes to either spectacle or sound." Alonso Duralde of TheWrap wrote: "The stakes are high and the danger is always imminent in this straightforward thriller; it never bends the rules of the genre, but it certainly delivers on what it promises."
