Dead Man’s Wire (2025) – Review

Quick Thoughts:

1. Bill Skarsgård is fantastic. I love his motor-mouthed theatrics.
2. I love when Gus Van Sant tackles a real-life story (which is most of the time).
3. Cary Elwes looks great with a beard.
4. The 103 producer credits has to be a record.
5. Van Sant only had five weeks to prepare the film, so it’s a miracle that it’s such a tight and well-executed experience. 

After watching Nicole Kidman (To Die For), Sean Penn (Milk), River Phoenix (My Own Private Idaho), Robin Williams (Good Will Hunting), and Kelly Lynch/Matt Dillon (Drugstore Cowboy) delivering career-defining performances in films directed by Gus Van Sant, it must’ve been an easy decision for Bill Skarsgård to sign on for Dead Man’s Wire. It also helps that Van Sant is no stranger to successfully tackling real events (or fictionalized accounts of real events), and has a knack for figuring out what makes people do what they do. 

Shot over 19 days in Louisville, Kentucky, Dead Man’s Wire tells the story of Tony Kiritsis (Bill Skarsgård), a blue-collar Hoosier (lives in Indiana), who kidnaps Richard “Dick” Hall (Dacre Montgomery) an executive at the Meridian Mortgage Company owned by Dick’s father M.L. Hall (Al Pacino – who filmed all of his scenes in one day). Tony’s original plan was to kidnap the elder Hall and drive him back  to his booby-trapped apartment building, where he’d hold him hostage. However, when he learned that the elder Hall was on vacation, he attached a sawed-off shotgun and wire to Dick’s body (a “dead man’s wire”) and the two began a 63-hour marathon of chaos that concluded with nationally televised press conference that made jouranlists reevaluate the ethics of live coverage (and won John Blair a Pulitzer Prize for an inconic photo he took).

Kiritsis has a beef with Meridian because they cheated him out of valuable land that was perfect for a shopping mall development, and he wants debt forgiveness and an apology. To raise awareness of his grievances, Kiritsis calls the cops and local radio DJ Fred Temple (Colman Domingo – who filmed all his scenes in two days) and unleashes motor-mouthed tirades about how and why Meridian Mortgage Company mistreated him. During the hostage crisis, Kiritsis talks with detective Michael Grable (Cary Elwes – who is almost unrecognizable behind a beard and wonky American accent), who knows Kiritsis and wants to make sure nobody is harmed during the situation. 

Van Sant signed up for the film because it had a “real barnstorming energy,” and it became much more energetic when Skarsgård showed up and imbued comedic energy into the motor-mouthed Kiritsis. It’s fun watching Skarsgård constantly apologize, act crazy, and say things like “Why don’t you wash my ass, father, it’s Tuesday, not Sunday.” You’ll have a good time watching the slim 35-year-old Swedish actor channel the personality of a beefy 45-year-old Hoosier who rocked some serious sideburns. To prepare for the role, Skarsgard listened to the 911 calls and found out that Kiritsis was “quite funny,” which allowed him to enter a flow state on set. You can tell that he loves the spontaneity of the character and you can almost feel the energy coming off of him when he says, “do you like ice in your milk?”

The performances from Skarsgård, Domingo, Montgomery, Elwes and Myha’la (who plays a news reporter) are all solid, which shouldn’t be a surprise because Van Sant always gets solid performances from his actors. The cinematography by Arnaud Potier (Skin, Argo Dr1ft) does a fine job of capturing 1970s realism by using refurbished broadcast cameras and 360-degree lighting, which allowed the actors freedom to roam. Finally, the costume design by Peggy Schnitzer (Killer Joe, Elvis and Nixon, Bug) is perfect, and I like knowing that Skarsgård had to wear his green shirt every day because she could only find one, and Van Sant didn’t like the replicas she created. 

Final Thoughts – If you’re in the mood for an effective thriller that features committed performances, I totally recommend Dead Man’s Wire.