Those Who Wish Me Dead

Those Who Wish Me Dead offers a promising premise based on Michael Koryta’s novel, but suffers from underdeveloped plot points and character arcs. While the film delivers in visual spectacle—especially the wildfire effects—and offers standout performances from supporting characters like Medina Senghore, it falls short in narrative clarity and emotional depth. Still, it remains a watchable thriller for fans of action-packed survival stories. Read the full review here: (Indonesian version : alunauwie.com) and (English version : uwiepuspita.com)

Despite absolutely loving Taylor Sheridan's last attempt at directing (Wind River), this action-thriller lacks that incredibly captivating element of his previous screenplays (Hell or High Water, Sicario). Boasting remarkable performances from Angelina Jolie (The One and Only Ivan), Nicholas Hoult (True History of the Kelly Gang), and Aidan Gillen (Bohemian Rhapsody), the well-directed narrative misses the necessary creativity and energy to elevate the overall flick. A not-that-suspenseful story that contains too many ups and downs for a continuously engaging viewing. Rating: C

**AMAZING Performances & Visuals , But An Anticlimactic , Even -_ABRUPT_- Finalé . . . . . . I'm Afraid This Was Just ANOTHER Tragic Victim Of The PANDEMIC 😔 .** A "Good, Old Fashioned" **-{ _B I G_ }-** Screen Mini Review . ______________________________________________________ Hannah : " I should have gone to them, and instead I was a ( expletive ) Coward " . Ryan : " Then you'd be dead too " . Hannah : " .....That's Our **-{ JOB }-** " . ______________________________________________________ Let me start with the -{ Unbelievably }- natural 12 year old ( when the movie was filmed ) child-actor, native Australian Finn Little ( 'Connor Casserly' ). I have to say that I was just -{ Blown Away }- with the Depth, & the Range of his performance ; charged with a role that was ( literally ) about 25 Times more demanding in terms of its Dramatic & -{ Emotional }- 'heavy-lifting' needs ; than what we are used to seeing the average 12 year old Hollywood thespian tasked with ( in terms of their on-screen assignments ), these days. Bravo 👏❗. The Ever-stunning Angelina Jolie ( 'Hannah Faber' ) , for her part, has -{ most definitely }- " Still Got It " , ( i.e that uniquely quintessential " Supreme Cinematic Fire-power " of hers ) , make - no - mistake . And last but { by -No- means } least, let me just give a quick, yet Massive shout out to the 'second big surprise' of the night, namely ( -relative- ) newcomer Medina Senghore, who does a -{ Stupendous }- job as 'Allison Sawyer', the embattled Deputy Sheriff's very doting, and -{ Equally }- embattled 'six months pregnant' wife . The overall cinematography , the truly -Sprawling- vistas , and the visual & special effects -{ Both }- in terms of all the thoroughly gripping action-sequences, -{ As Well }- as in terms of the "phenomenally" -real' seeming, & quite frankly, "Terrifying" looking forest-fire scenes . . . . . Were just, well . . . . . 'Hands-Down-Fantastic'. The major problem for ( -Me- ) was : " What I've now come to 'affectionately' label as " The War Of The Worlds ( Tom Cruise, 2005 ) Syndrome 🤷‍♂️ " . Or in other words, & very simply put : " When you -{ Really, Really }- start to get into the picture, and in a -Big- way, no less ; it pretty darn -Suddenly- grinds to a screeching halt, leaving you -Not Only- with the palpable sense of a sort of 'Anticlimax-malaise', but -Also- a few rather Pertinent... 'Outright' ...Unanswered-questions, relating to the film's -{ Genuinely Thrilling }- & 'Mildly-plausible', premise. And finally, & unmissably of course, there's the 'Profound' level of, er... profanity 💥 💣 . Yes , I -get- that the film's rated 15 on this very homepage ; in fact that's ( just about ) the -Only- reason I'm -Not- griping about it in my review-Title. But the fact of the matter remains : The somewhat excessive seeming level of -'Hard'- swearing in the movie , coupled with the few brief but nonetheless significant instances of profane ( -Subject Matter- )... in a picture with a, let's not forget, -{ 12 year old }- in the **" TITLE ROLE "** ...was simply -{ Not }- indespensable to the story , -{ Period }- . Summary : Had me on that ever proverbial 'Edge' { of-my-seat } for the -majority- of its 100 minute run-time. So this movie, with its "sensorily-Explosive" forest-fire backdrop... { No spoilers here, that's ( -very- ) much in the trailer } ...gets a -{ Fairly }- " warm 😉 " , and indeed , -unflinching- **" PANDEMIC-CONSIDERATE "** 6.50 out of 10.00 from me .