The Mosley Review: Those Who Wish Me Dead

Remember when action thrillers were actually thrilling? You were on the edge of your seat once the hero and the person they were trying to protect were surrounded by an almost unstoppable threat. The impending doom was around every corner and even the environment seemed to work against them. The classic conflicts and themes of the hero vs the villain, hero vs nature and hero vs themselves were all on display and expertly woven throughout the story. A lot of late 90's action thrillers did it well and this film did it in spades. I loved that the table is perfectly set within the first 10 minutes and to a fun pace that takes it time, but doesn't over reach for your attention. Each event in the film builds to a satisfying and pulse pounding end while propelling the story forward. That is so rare nowadays since the attention spans are so short. The film allows you to stay with each character as their lives are fleshed out in front of your eyes. I found myself rooting for so many of them to succeed and/or fail. Its rare for a film to keep me locked it so intently as this film did.

The cast across the board was stellar and strong. Angelina Jolie was excellent as Hannah Faber. I loved that she is not the typical heroine that is tough and has guns blazing while delivering cheesy one liners. Hannah is flawed, she’s haunted by a horribly traumatic moment from her career and throughout the film you see her battle the guilt of her past and she eventually has to make a choice to face it or not. You feel the damage she takes in the more physical scenes and she doesn't shake it off easily and I loved that Jolie brought out the humanity within the character. Jon Bernthal is always great and he was beyond magnetic as Ethan Sawyer. I felt the friendly bond between him and Hannah. Medina Senghore was amazing and badass as his wife Allison Sawyer. I won't say alot about what she does in the film, but don't count her out. She is not the typical pregnant house wife and she nearly steals the film. Ethan and Allison stole my heart in the film as they were perfectly casted and had this infectious energy about them. You feel the strength of their love in every moment they're together. Another great standout performance comes from Finn Little as Connor Casserly. Jake Weber plays his father Owen and their scenes were excellent as they truly felt like father and son. The boy holds his own throughout the film and shines as bright as Angelina Jolie. The chemistry between the two of them was great and their bonding moments felt natural and weren't forced. The antagonists in the film were just perfectly cold and mission driven. Aiden Gillen has built a career on being the sometimes layered and sympathetic villain or the straight out for blood kind of evil. As Jack Blackwell, he took charge and was easily quick to pull the trigger and get the mission done, but there was a twinkle of conscience behind his murderous nature. Nicholas Hoult plays his partner Patrick Blackwell and he was just as murderous, but way more cold blooded. I liked seeing Nicholas play a more unruly and vicious character. Tyler Perry was their employer Arthur Philip and it was a surprise to see him step out of the comedy realm and play a sort of mob type boss that sends out killers.

The score by Brian Tyler was excellent and really gave life to the building doom of a wild fire. I have to say that the fire in this film really was the third and relentless villain and I loved it. Very few films use the elements as a character and much like Backdraft, the fire was a character in of itself. Tyler Sheridan has become one of my favorite storytellers with his impressive body of work. Sicario and Hell or High Water are my favorite films he’s written and his direction of this film was so expertly done. His layered, gritty and adrenaline filled storytelling technique is once again on display and it was the adrenaline shot I didn't know I needed. It is currently in theaters and streaming on HBO Max and I can't gush enough about how fantastic this film is. Let me know what you thought of the film or my review in comments below. Thanks for reading!