Dead Man’s Wire (2025)

Gus Van Sant, a director whose name lives in my brain despite having only seen 3 of his films (including today’s) likely because it is just cool sounding. And while I absolutely love Good Will Hunting (1997) the only other film of his I had previously seen was Drugstore Cowboy (1989) so my knowledge of him is not great. Pair that with the fact that I knew almost nothing about Dead Man’s Wire (2025) going in and it meant that I didn’t not what to expect when I took my char in the cinema. And I think both the film and my viewing experience were all the better for it.

When I say I knew almost nothing about this film, what I did know is that it was a crime film and some of the actors. But I did not know it was based on a real situation, the setting, time period, etc.  So, my main expectation was a tense thriller atmosphere throughout. And it is kind of that. There are definitely some tense moments, and the film does a good job of building up the drama and tension, helped greatly by a really dissonant score from Danny Elfman that really captures the manic nature of our main character. However, I feel like this film falls slightly into the genre of dark comedy. It perhaps does not go all the way in this regard as it is not a laugh a minute, but there were several times where myself and the rest of the audience in my cinema were audibly laughing, and it never feels out of place either, the tone remains consistent throughout. And I can’t not mention Bill Skarsgard who is superb as Tony Kiritsis. He is electric throughout and eats up every scene he is in, you just can’t take your eyes off him. I had a great time with this film and I definitely recommend it, but I maybe recommend going into films blind even more.