By Dustin Rowles | Film | April 7, 2021 |
By Dustin Rowles | Film | April 7, 2021 |
I dig Taylor Sheridan, almost as much for his path as his talent. The guy used to recur as a scumbag cop on Sons of Anarchy, but then he made a name for himself by writing lower-budget movies that outkicked their coverage (Sicario, Hell or High Water), and then took to the director’s chair in Wind River. Meanwhile, he hasn’t sold out to Disney or the MCU, and though he attracts big talent, Sheridan seems content to tell variations on the Western, most successfully — of course — with his frustrating but immensely watchable Paramount+ series, Yellowstone.
In Those Who Wish Me Dead, Sheridan pulls down Jon Bernthal — who seems almost tailor-made for a Taylor Sheridan movie — and Angelina Jolie. Jolie plays a fire watcher who ends up trying to protect a kid from assassins (Nicholas Hoult and Aidan Gillen) after the kid witnesses a murder. When Jolie and the kid run into the forest to escape, the bad guys set it on fire. Tyler Perry is along for the ride, too, because why not?
If I wasn’t already sold by the talent and the genre, there are also gunshots set to Johnny Cash in the trailer. I feel very pandered to.
Those Who Wish Me Dead premieres in theaters and on HBO Max on May 18th.