HBO Max Those Who Wish Me Dead (2021)

[Jake Lipson]

Title: Those Who Wish Me Dead (2021)

Genre: Thriller, Drama, Western

Director: Taylor Sheridan

Cast: Angelina Jolie, Nicholas Hoult, Tyler Perry, Jon Bernthal, Aidan Gillen, Jake Weber, James Jordan, Medina Senghore, Lora Martinez-Cunningham, Dylan Kenin, Finn Little, Howard Ferguson Jr., Matt Medrano, Jacob Browne, Rene Herrera, Alison Grainger, Tory Kittles, Laura Niemi, Alma Sisneros, David Phyfer, Sofia Embid, Stephanie Hill, David Hight, Jesus Cris Acosta, James Rishe

Release: 2021-05-07

Plot: A teenage murder witness finds himself pursued by twin assassins in the Montana wilderness with a survival expert tasked with protecting him and a forest fire threatening to consume them all.

 

[Jake Lipson]

Warner Bros. just put up the trailer for Those Who Wish Me Dead which is right above this text in the first post.

This is the new film from writer-director Taylor Taylor Sheridan. Although the trailer mentions Sicario and his TV series Yellowstone, this is his second directorial feature after Wind River. He is also known for writing Hell or High Water.

I'm way behind on Yellowstone and need to catch up with that, but I've never missed one of Taylor Sheridan's films. I've always thought he was a great writer and Wind River demonstrated his equally strong talent as a director.

I honestly forgot that this was coming out this year until the trailer dropped, but I'm very excited to see it.

Unfortunately, this will be Sheridan's first feature that I miss theatrically. But I'm really glad Warner Bros. is doing the HBO Max thing with it as well so I don't have to wait to see it.

Incidentally, Sheridan also co-wrote Without Remorse which Amazon is releasing on April 30, so we'll have two new films written by him just a few weeks apart. Without Remorse was directed by Stefano Sollima, who previously directed Sicario: Day of the Soldado which Sheridan wrote.

I wish they would make the third Sicario film to complete Sheridan's envisioned trilogy, but that's another discussion for another thread. In the meantime, it's great to have this coming out. I hope it is as good as Wind River, which I thought was one of the best movies of the year when it was released.

 

[Jeffrey D]

I really liked Wind River, and in my opinion Hell Or High Water is one of the best films of this millennium, so I’m sure there’ll be something that I like about this upcoming film.

 

[bujaki]

I really liked Wind River, and in my opinion Hell Or High Water is one of the best films of this millennium, so I’m sure there’ll be something that I like about this upcoming film.

Agreed. I just think the word "millennium" is a slight exaggeration. Might "decade" be a better choice, as it would shave off 900 years ?

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

Looks promising. I'm in.

 

[Citizen87645]

I'm also a fan of Sheridan's work so far, but I have not had the time to watch his work on series like Yellowstone.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I'm also a fan of Sheridan's work so far, but I have not had the time to watch his work on series like Yellowstone.

I did, but didn't care for any of the characters so I dropped it after the first season.

 

[Robert Crawford]

This movie is out today, but I haven't had time to watch it yet on HBO Max. Will do so before this weekend is over with.

 

[Jake Lipson]

As I've said here and elsewhere around the forum, I'm a big fan of Sheridan's other movies. I am way, way behind on Yellowstone and need to find time to catch up. But I've seen and loved his other films.. So I stayed up to watch Those Who Wish Me Dead last night when HBO Max made it available at midnight PST.

I didn't know before watching it that this one is adapted from a novel by Michael Koryta. Koryta has a screenplay credit along with someone named Charles Leavitt, whose work I'm not familiar with either, and Sheridan. So while Sheridan is obviously very involved with this movie because he also directed it, this is not something where he came up with the original idea or wrote on his own.

I should preface this by saying that Sicario and its sequel as well as Hell or High Water and Wind River were all among my favorite movies of the years in which they came out. So I have a very high opinion of Sheridan's work. On a personal note, the local humane society had dogs available for adoption in the mall where I went to see Wind River. You had to go through the mall to get to the movie theater which is located in the middle of it, so we had to pass the dogs to get to the movie. When I came out of the movie a couple hours later, I discovered that my parents had adopted a dog while I was watching it. The only reason any of us went anywhere near that mall on that day is because they were dropping me off at the movie. I think Wind River is a sensational movie anyway and I would still think that if nothing out of the ordinary had happened on that trip. But I do have to say that it also holds an extra special place in my heart since we have our dog due to my wanting to see that movie.

I mention this to illustrate that there's a lot of expectation for Sheridan to live up to with me when he has a new project. But I'm also partial to like what he does.

I'm happy to say that Those Who Wish Me Dead is good. This is a substantially bigger movie than Wind River in both scale and budget, and Sheridan is able to navigate that transition successfully. It is extremely well put together. I was really entertained and invested in what was going on here. There is a large ensemble cast here and the narrative switches between different sets of characters at various points, but it all felt cohesive and balanced. It was taut and focused without any wasted time. There are some really impressive visual sequences here too. I don't really have a bad word to say about the movie.

But Sheridan's past work was really good at mixing thrills with some social commentary about our world today. Sheridan is extremely skilled at writing distinctive thrillers which also shed light on social issues without feeling preachy. Wind River ends with that sobering statement: "While missing person statistics are compiled for every other demographic, none exist for Native Americans. No one knows how many are missing."

Those Who Wished Me Dead does not have any social overtones. It is a much more standard issue thriller than I've seen Sheridan deliver in the past. I think it happens to be a really well-made thriller which I am glad that I watched. It represents an evolution in his capabilities as a director. The cast is really good. I would absolutely recommend it for anyone interested in a fun, exciting movie. t will probably buy the disc in due course to go with his other films in my collection. But it is not as remarkable as his past work. There's nothing wrong with it, and a good deal that is very entertaining. But I would be surprised if this ended up being among the best films of the year. So watch it and enjoy it. But perhaps maybe temper your expectations just a bit.

This feels like my reaction to Brave being not as good as your usual Pixar film. Even though it doesn't get to their highest heights, it is still a pretty good movie. Those Who Wish Me Dead is not Sheridan's best work. But it is still a very worthwhile and enjoyable one.

 

[Jake Lipson]

Has anyone else seen this yet?

 

[Robert Crawford]

Has anyone else seen this yet?

I meant to, but I got sidetracked with other movies. My brother watched it and said it was okay which didn't drive me more to watch it this weekend. However, I will watch it at some point this week.

 

[Robert Crawford]

As I've said here and elsewhere around the forum, I'm a big fan of Sheridan's other movies. I am way, way behind on Yellowstone and need to find time to catch up. But I've seen and loved his other films.. So I stayed up to watch Those Who Wish Me Dead last night when HBO Max made it available at midnight PST.

I didn't know before watching it that this one is adapted from a novel by Michael Koryta. Koryta has a screenplay credit along with someone named Charles Leavitt, whose work I'm not familiar with either, and Sheridan. So while Sheridan is obviously very involved with this movie because he also directed it, this is not something where he came up with the original idea or wrote on his own.

I should preface this by saying that Sicario and its sequel as well as Hell or High Water and Wind River were all among my favorite movies of the years in which they came out. So I have a very high opinion of Sheridan's work. On a personal note, the local humane society had dogs available for adoption in the mall where I went to see Wind River. You had to go through the mall to get to the movie theater which is located in the middle of it, so we had to pass the dogs to get to the movie. When I came out of the movie a couple hours later, I discovered that my parents had adopted a dog while I was watching it. The only reason any of us went anywhere near that mall on that day is because they were dropping me off at the movie. I think Wind River is a sensational movie anyway and I would still think that if nothing out of the ordinary had happened on that trip. But I do have to say that it also holds an extra special place in my heart since we have our dog due to my wanting to see that movie.

I mention this to illustrate that there's a lot of expectation for Sheridan to live up to with me when he has a new project. But I'm also partial to like what he does.

I'm happy to say that Those Who Wish Me Dead is good. This is a substantially bigger movie than Wind River in both scale and budget, and Sheridan is able to navigate that transition successfully. It is extremely well put together. I was really entertained and invested in what was going on here. There is a large ensemble cast here and the narrative switches between different sets of characters at various points, but it all felt cohesive and balanced. It was taut and focused without any wasted time. There are some really impressive visual sequences here too. I don't really have a bad word to say about the movie.

But Sheridan's past work was really good at mixing thrills with some social commentary about our world today. Sheridan is extremely skilled at writing distinctive thrillers which also shed light on social issues without feeling preachy. Wind River ends with that sobering statement: "While missing person statistics are compiled for every other demographic, none exist for Native Americans. No one knows how many are missing."

Those Who Wished Me Dead does not have any social overtones. It is a much more standard issue thriller than I've seen Sheridan deliver in the past. I think it happens to be a really well-made thriller which I am glad that I watched. It represents an evolution in his capabilities as a director. The cast is really good. I would absolutely recommend it for anyone interested in a fun, exciting movie. t will probably buy the disc in due course to go with his other films in my collection. But it is not as remarkable as his past work. There's nothing wrong with it, and a good deal that is very entertaining. But I would be surprised if this ended up being among the best films of the year. So watch it and enjoy it. But perhaps maybe temper your expectations just a bit.

This feels like my reaction to Brave being not as good as your usual Pixar film. Even though it doesn't get to their highest heights, it is still a pretty good movie. Those Who Wish Me Dead is not Sheridan's best work. But it is still a very worthwhile and enjoyable one.

After watching it this afternoon, I agree with your assessment of the film and concur with my brother that it was okay as an entertaining thriller. Unlike you I probably won't buy this on disc, I may purchase the 4K digital if it's discounted down to $9.99 or less.

 

[benbess]

I saw this in the theater and liked it. A solid B thriller.

As Jake says above, it's not as good as Wind River.

 

[Jake Lipson]

As Jake says above, it's not as good as Wind River.

Obviously, I agree because I said it. But to be fair, Wind River is a really high bar. It would be unrealistic to expect Sheridan to make a film as good as that every time he does one.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Wind River is my favorite Sheridan film! For the life of me, I don't understand why Lionsgate didn't release that fine movie onto 4K disc instead of some that dreck they did released.

 

[David Weicker]

I watched, and it was fine

But it had a lot of plot problems

Spoiler

A fire spotter tower shouldn’t be disabled by a lightning strike. It’s the tallest metal structure for miles. It’s going to be hit often . There should be some type of protection/backup

is the tower only manned when someone gets in trouble? Shouldn’t she have replaced someone?

The bad guys saw the news about the house explosion on the dad’s laptop browser, but the dad didn’t know until he heard the news on the radio

It was verrrrry convenient that the dad drove down that road at that time. He had spent just one night in a motel - not two nights, not driven straight through, not used another road

Jolie not looking for smoke after bringing the kid back to the tower

it seemed like the sheriff, Jolie, and the kid could have just hunkered down in the tower. Stay out of sight out of sight, out of reach. Killers would have been exposed trying to get at them

And the biggie - Dad didn’t contact the media. He had an ‘in’ - death of a D.A.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I watched, and it was fine

but it had a lot of plot problems

Spoiler

a fire spotter tower shouldn’t be disabled by a lightning strike. It’s the tallest metal structure for miles

That's not the only lightning sequence I had a problem with.

 

[David Weicker]

That's not the only lightning sequence I had a problem with.

Meant to put that in spoiler - have revised my post (plus additional problems)

In regards to the other strike scene, I was reminded of a line from Beau Geste
“Look at them. They come when I want them, and they go when I don’t need them anymore.”

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Saw this today A-list and thought it was... okay.

Kind of all over the place. Felt like it should've been more about Jolie and the kid, but it spread itself too thin.

Ultimately thought it was reasonably watchable but not memorable.

Woulda been better if it'd been all about the pregnant wife! She was the most interesting character!

 

[Citizen87645]

I watched the first 10 minutes. My main impression from those minutes was I had no idea Nick Hoult was so tall!