Unlike many of her Hollywood peers, Taylor Sheridan is one of the few female creators working today who devotes herself almost entirely to telling stories set in the American heartland. Whether it's her criminally underrated series in Montana, Yellowstone or the brilliant neo-western Wind River, set on a Native American reservation in Wyoming, Sheridan seems determined to give a voice to those who are often neglected on television and American cinema. That said, his latest effort, The Who Wish Me Dead, is in stark contrast to the titles listed above in that it doesn't really have anything to say about America or its people, choosing instead to present a numbers thriller, which is effective if it's completely disposable. Arriving in theaters and on HBO Max on May 14, Those Who Wish Me Dead sees the witness to the murder in a teenage Connor (Finn Little) pursued through the Montana desert by a pair of ruthless killers (Aiden Gillen and Nicholas Hoult). ) that will stop with nothing to tie. for his employer (Tyler Perry). Along the way, Connor bonds with Hannah (Angelina Jolie), a smoker with post-traumatic stress disorder who took her first steps at work after witnessing the deaths of three children in a particularly devastating forest fire. Together, the pair must fight to stay alive as they flee from the assassins who follow them and the raging forest fire their pursuers have unleashed. Fortunately, Hannah knows a thing or two about surviving in extreme conditions.
The heater is on
Nicholas Hoult in Those Who Wish Me Dead (Image credit: Warner Bros.) In theory, a film set in the high-stakes world of smokejumpers plays directly to Sheridan's strengths, as the concept is inherently about an elite group of characters who must go on an emotional journey in a modern western context. However, the film's firefighting angle comes off entirely as an afterthought, only coming into play when the film's villains start a forest fire as a diversion about halfway through the film. Ce qui nous amène à un autre probleme - bien que le travail de Sheridan traite généralement des nuances de grise, laissant au public le soin de decider de quel côté il est, la morale de Ceux qui me souhaitent mort est aussi noire et blanche qu' She comes. The movie really wants you to hate its villains and support its good guys, which isn't much like Sheridan's approach to it. This is likely due to the fact that the film is not Sheridan's: the sought-after screenwriter was initially tricked into rewriting an existing script, which was already an adaptation of the novel, eventually telling the studio that he would be ready to film as well. address himself. he could have Jolie as the star of him. Most surprisingly, however, Jolie and Little's fight for survival is quickly overshadowed by the film's B-plot, in which the heavily pregnant Alison (Medina Senghore), wife of Sheriff Ethan (Jon Bernthal), He goes in search of the murderers. . from far. The scenes with the evil mother Alison offer by far the most intense and suspenseful moments in Those Who Wish Me Dead, making us wish the film was more character-focused. The resulting film, while well acted, confidently directed, and undeniably exciting, ends up feeling very light for a major studio release with A-list stars, especially after Sheridan's excellent previous directorial effort, Wind River. Today's best HBO Max deals
Set it on fire
Finn Little (left) and Angelina Jolie (right) in Those Who Wish Me Dead (Image Credit: Warner Bros.) Of course, that doesn't mean Those Who Wish Me Dead aren't worth your time. Rather, the film works very well as a throwback to the '90s thriller heyday, where all you needed was a big bag of popcorn and some exciting set pieces for a good night at the movies. While the film falls short of Sheridan's previous work, which includes the Oscar-nominated Hell or High Water and the two Sicario movies, it pairs well with the '90s action thrillers that inspired it, like The River Wild. In other words, The Who Wish Me Dead is the perfect movie for a cozy night in or a date, don't expect to be remembered for long. The Who Wish Me Killed hits theaters and HBO Max in the US on May 14, in UK cinemas on May 17 and in Australian cinemas on May 13.