Dead Man’s Wire (2026)
Directed by: Gus Van Sant
Premise: Based on true events. In 1977, Tony Kiritsis (Bill Skarsgård) believes he has been cheated by a mortgage company. Kiritsis takes one of the executives (Dacre Montgomery) hostage and demands restitution.
What Works: Dead Man’s Wire is set in the 1970s and the filmmakers credibly recreate that era. The production design and costumes look weathered and lived-in. The movie includes cutaways to news reports that simulate the look of television and other media from that time. These details place the story in its era but also give the film a great deal of reality. Dead Man’s Wire has a cinema verite feel and this is a gripping hostage story. It has a nervous and unpredictable atmosphere and that’s partly attributable to the cinematography by Arnaud Potier and the performances by Bill Skarsgård and Dacre Montgomery. Skarsgård is cast as Tony Kiritsis and he is simultaneously enthralling and frightening. Kiritsis may have a legitimate claim but he’s also delusional and that is an interesting tension. Dacre Montgomery plays hostage Richard Hall. It’s not a flashy performance but Montgomery has a quiet desperation that we can see in the edges of his performance. There’s also a dark sense of humor to Dead Man’s Wire that punches up the movie.
What Doesn’t: Dead Man’s Wire suffers a common fault of historical movies. It includes a lot of historical details but those elements aren’t organized in a way that produces a meaningful point of view. Tony Kiritsis felt he had a legitimate grievance and it’s implied that he became a folk hero. That’s a provocative idea that suits our present cultural moment and the popular antipathy toward banks and the super wealthy but Dead Man’s Wire doesn’t rouse our sympathies in a way that would be politically inspiring. If the filmmakers intend to be morally ambiguous like Dog Day Afternoon, this picture doesn’t explore this event in a complicated way. There are a lot of characters involved including law enforcement, the press, and family members but no one gets much to do or ethical problems to negotiate. The story structure cuts out some of the most interesting aspects of this historical event. After the hostage crisis was resolved, Kiritsis was put on trial which reached a controversial outcome. We don’t get any of the trial except for the reading of the verdict. Text preceding the end credits explains the aftermath for the people involved and some of that information is potentially more interesting than what happens in the movie itself.
Bottom Line: As a thriller, Dead Man’s Wire is very successful and the performances by Bill Skarsgård and Dacre Montgomery are exceptional. However, the film is clearly intended to be more than that and it just doesn’t connect thematically or politically.
Episode: #1104 (June 21, 2026)