A throwback to nineties action, this thriller pits survival instincts against a raging wildfire.
In short: Directed by Taylor Sheridan, this 2021 action thriller follows a traumatized smokejumper protecting a boy from professional assassins in the Montana wilderness. As a massive forest fire consumes the landscape, the film blends high-stakes survival with the gritty, grounded tension of a traditional, character-driven genre piece for adult audiences.
The narrative centers on Hannah Faber, a smokejumper stationed in a Park County, Montana, fire lookout tower. Haunted by her failure to save three campers and a colleague during a previous blaze, Faber finds her isolation disrupted when she encounters Connor Casserly. Connor is fleeing two assassins, Jack and Patrick, who murdered his father after the man uncovered evidence of a high-level conspiracy. The assassins, acting on orders to eliminate the boy, ignite a forest fire as a tactical diversion to distract local law enforcement, inadvertently creating a lethal, rapidly spreading obstacle for both the hunters and their prey.
Taylor Sheridan’s direction aims for a realistic, muscular aesthetic, distancing the project from the contemporary reliance on computer-generated superheroes and intellectual property. Critics noted the film’s resemblance to nineties-era thrillers, with some reviewers drawing comparisons to the Coen brothers' No Country for Old Men. The performances of Nicholas Hoult and Aidan Gillen as the relentless assassins were particularly lauded for their chilling, economical portrayal of villainy, which often threatened to overshadow the rest of the cast. However, the film received mixed critical reception; while some praised the propulsive pacing and effective spectacle of the fire sequences, others argued that the narrative’s attempt to juggle multiple storylines left it without a cohesive emotional center.
Production was a complex undertaking, beginning with the acquisition of Michael Koryta’s novel by 20th Century Fox in 2013. Filming eventually took place in New Mexico between May and July 2019. Upon its 2021 release, the film faced a challenging landscape, debuting simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max. It grossed $19.1 million worldwide, with $7.4 million coming from the United States and Canada. Despite its modest box office performance, the film found a significant digital audience, reaching over 3 million U.S. households within its first month on streaming, illustrating the shifting consumption habits of modern audiences seeking mature, straightforward action cinema.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Those Who Wish Me Dead
- Also: Those Who Wish Me Dead
- Also: Wikidata — Those Who Wish Me Dead · CC0
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