Review
Dead Man’s Wire (2025)
image: Row K entertainment
Dead Man's Wire tells the real life story of Tony Kiritsis who for a few days in February 1977 took an executive from Meridian Mortgages hostage. Using a shotgun he attached by wire to Richard Hall (the unfortunate hostage) which would trigger automatically if Kiritsis was harmed or Hall tried to escape. Kiritsis was convinced that he had been swindled by Meridian and that company had deliberately sabotaged his retail centre plans. The case became a media sensation, making national news in America and it is a little surprising this is the first time the event has been dramatised on film. Writer Austin Kolodney was inspired to pen the script after listening to a podcast that discussed the case and sought out Alan Berry and Mark Enoch who wrote and directed Dead Man’s Line (2018) documentary for information. Originally intended for Werner Herzog with Nicolas Cage starring, the film shifted to Gus Van Sant with Bill Skarsgård and Dacre Montgomery playing Kiritsis and Hall respectively and is an excellent showcase for their talents.
Dead Man's Wire is a film buoyed along by the energy and momentum of Bill Skarsgård’s central performance as Tony Kiritsis. He’s a character whose every emotion seems a hair’s breath away, his anger rises quickly to the surface but vanishes or shifts by the next thought. He seems to express each thought that crosses his mind, barking out expletives like Steve Buscemi in Fargo and then showing genuine concern for Hall’s comfort the next. Skarsgård’s jittery movements recall Kramer in Seinfeld stalking around the room with long legged strides whilst absent minded wielding a gun. Even the other characters in the film seem to be perplexed and fascinated by him, the police (who were previously drinking buddies with Kiritsis) seem reluctant to condemn him. An unrecognisable Cary Elwes even initially ensures his safety urging fellow police to holster their weapons. The film itself spends more time humanising and empathising with Kiritsis than with any other character and it’s clear that writer and director see him more as a sympathetic and misguided folk hero than a maniac. In Kiritsis’ desire for fame and wider attention to his grievances the blame is placed on the Network’s who know that this hostage situation will only lead to more viewers.
Director: Gus Van Sant
Writer: Austin Kolodney
Starring: Bill Skarsgård, Dacre Montgomery, Colman Domingo, Cary Elwes, Myha’la, Al Pacino
Run Time: 1h 44m
UK Certificate: 15
7/10
image: Row K entertainment
Dacre Montgomery however stands in complete contrast with a gut wrenching fear influencing every aspect of his performance. Against the bombast and bluster of Skarsgård, Montgomery is seems like he is trying to suppress any expression or emotion (“the Halls are a stoic people”) with only his eyes revealing the true depths of his distress. He spends much of the film tied to the chair staring down the barrel of the gun but within these confines he delivers an excellent performance. Terrified of angering or offending his captor he is soft spoken and measured, only really replying to direct questions with clipped focused responses. Although there are some moments of connection between the pair the film ensures we’re always aware of the perilous predicament that Hall is in and where the power in the situation lies. It’s a shame that Kolodney and Van Sant seem less interested in this character and the effects of what would have been a truly horrifying experience but the character is undoubtedly presented with a degree of empathy, especially as opposed to Hall’s father M.L Hall. Al Pacino only filmed as M.L for a single day but he’s fantastic as the odious head of the mortgage company who won’t even apologise for the safety of his son.
There’s an element of Sidney Lumet’s Network and Dog Day Afternoon especially (1976) in how Van Sant presents the circus surrounding the event. Kiritsis is also “Mad as hell” and the film acknowledges how entertaining and universal this anger at the capitalist system (here represented by the mortgage companies) is. It’s the television executives that will profit though and there’s more understanding shown to reporter Linda Page (Myha’la) who is trying to get her first big break with this coverage and Fred Temple (Colman Domingo) a radio DJ Kiritsis phoned to tell his side of the story. Dead Man’s Wire hinges much of the film on Temple, and Domingo who said he based his performance on Lynne Thigpen as the iconic DJ in The Warriors (1979). The characters laid back cool contrasts nicely with Skarsgård’s verbal onslaught.
The premise seems more suited to a gruesome Saw like horror but Gus Van Sant’s film is strangely light and crowd pleasing, shrewdly sidestepping the messiness of reality. There have been some obvious liberties taken with the Kiritsis’ story in order to streamline and make it more palatable which I’m sure will frustrate people more familiar with it though the facts (even the more outlandish ones) are largely presented accurately. There’s a clear attempt to draw comparisons to the rampant corruption of modern late stage capitalism and the vitriolic anger people are feeling with Kiritsis’ plight and there’s the feeling that the narrative has been smoothed into order to present this better. The film is shot almost like a documentary with photographs and video recreated to look like archival news footage to give a guerilla style to the initial kidnapping. The cinematography Arnaud Potier clearly took inspiration from the dirty look of 1970’s crime dramas and with costumer Peggy Schnitzer they did a great job of capturing the era. Still with all of the film’s issues it is still immensely watchable (largely due to Skarsgård’s performance) and Van Sant’s most entertaining film in years.
Watched on Sky Movies.
Published 9th July 2026