“Those Who Wish Me Dead” isn’t an instant classic or even a great movie. But the neo-Western action thriller is self-aware enough to know exactly what it is — a guilty pleasure. And that self awareness is enough to push it into the category of “good bad” movies.
When Owen Casserly (Jake Weber), a forensic accountant, discovers discrepancies in powerful people’s bank accounts, he tries to do the right thing. But when he tells the district attorney about the crimes, two assassins (Nicholas Hoult and Aidan Gillen) kill the DA and his family to keep them silent. Knowing he’s next, Owen drags his son Connor (Finn Little) out of school and the two go on the run.
Owen and Connor flee to Montana where his brother-in-law and sheriff Ethan Sawyer (Jon Bernthal) lives. The assassins are one step ahead, though, and kill Owen on an isolated wilderness road. Connor manages to worm his way out of the crashed car and escapes with a letter from his father that is full of evidence as the assassins pursue him in an attempt to finish the job.
In his frantic scramble through the woods, Connor runs into Hannah Faber (Angelina Jolie), a smokejumper in the wilderness of Montana. Desperate to find someone he can trust to help get him to town and tell the media what his father uncovered, Connor puts his trust in Hannah.
But when the radio station where Hannah was working is struck by lightning, leaving them without a form of communication, the two begin their trek to the nearest town miles away. Meanwhile, the assassins light a fire in the forest to cover their tracks, and Hannah and Connor are forced to traverse already-treacherous terrain through smoke and flames while being hunted.
The film, which is based on a book of the same name by Michael Koryta, isn’t nearly long enough to develop the characters fully or tell a story as rich as the book. While that usually spells disaster for movies, the fact that the film is primarily an action-thriller lets it escape that trap.
The fight scenes, suspense and violence keep you on your toes throughout the movie. Even though the assassins lack depth and are pretty stereotypical and straightforward bad guys, their mercenary-like attitude and ruthlessness make them a constant threat, causing you to hold your breath every time they’re on screen.
But while Hannah’s character is struggling with demons from her past and Connor’s character is obviously reeling from the recent death of his father, neither character is explored fully enough to make you feel connected to them. Even though the movie does fine without full character development, it was clearly a missed opportunity throughout that could have pushed it from okay to great.
With that being said, while the storytelling isn’t great and the writing could graciously be called mediocre, the visuals of the movie really help carry it through and make it watchable. Pretty faces, pretty scenery and pretty camera work make it a pretty good movie despite its flaws.
“Those Who Wish Me Dead” is playing in both theaters and on HBO Max for free. If you’re looking for a deep, thought-provoking movie for the night you’d be better served with something else, but if you’re just looking to be entertained by an R-rated version of “Home Alone,” this is the movie for you.
