Those Who Wish Me Dead

The 1990s model of thrillers has often been overused in many  modern films for a variety of reasons. A majority of them are made with mid-budgets, the scripts are recycled in how formulaic they are, they tend to include current actors or those trying to make a comeback, well-known directors who are doing them to make money for their next bigger project, etc. How well they end up being will depend on how the directing and acting makeup for its downsides. This brings us to Those Who Wish Me Dead, which was directed and co-written by Taylor Sheridan (best known for Sicario and Wind River). The marketing for this looked standard and nothing special but Sheridan's involvement could have something good about it like Wind River did in execution. I watched it on HBO Max and ended up a bit underwhelmed by the results, despite liking the good outweighing the bad. 

What's it about? The story follows a smokejumper protecting a surviving boy witness of an assassination from those who want to end his life. This is very much aiming for that aforementioned thriller type with its main focus on tension, which is arguably a strong point. Once it gets past its 30 minute mark of build up, it finds a familiar groove of acting on the survival elements. The direction showcased is doing its good job in distracting its audience from its blatant missteps. By the end, it ends up being a competent popcorn flick that doesn't drag with pacing and feels fairly smooth to get through.

That being said, the narrative doesn't hide the screenplays blatant problems. The characters are very much predictable archetypes that are expected for survival flicks such as an expert with traumatic issues, a kid to bond with, bland antagonists, etc. It includes an attempt with adding stakes for the killers to do their task but that 1 scene with their boss is never visited again. The relationships the people have with one another are almost serviceable but with how short the story is, sudden events and tragic aspects don't pack anything to latch onto. As a whole, it just doesn't do anything special to standout from the oversaturated thriller movie group. 

 

How are the actors? In regards to story importance, the actress to focus on are Angelina Jolie. Angelina gives a solid performance that feels like it's the closest to almost overcoming the script problem. Honorable mentions go to Aidan Gillen and Medina Seginhore who are standouts among the supporting for doing the most with their respective roles. Dishonorable mentions Nicholas Hoult for being the weak link among the actors (mainly just miscast in an antagonist role).

 

Overall Consensus: Those Who Wish Me Dead doesn't hide how predictable its narrative and cliched its characters are, but the direction and most of the performances are enough to offset the problem. ⭑⭑⭑1/2 Runtime: 1 hour 40 minutes R

 

Reasons to watch it: You are a fan of the aforementioned actor and/or filmmaker Taylor Sheridan. You are in the mood for a decent 90 minute popcorn action flick. You don't mind a script with familiar narratives or cliched archetypes. 

 

Reasons to avoid it: You aren't a fan of the aforementioned actor and/or filmmaker Taylor Sheridan. You aren't in the mood for a decent 90 minute popcorn action flick. You are bored with a familiar narrative or cliched archetypes.