Beginning on February 8th, 1977, Dead Man’s Wire is the amazing true story of Tony Kiritsis (Bill Skarsgård), who decides to walk into the Indianapolis offices of Meridian Mortgages with more on his mind than money. Claiming to have a meeting with the company owner M.L. Hall (Al Pacino), he is armed and ready to seek justice for what he believes to be the corrupt actions of their corporation. However, after he discovers that M.L. has left for a luxurious Florida vacation, Kiritsis instead take’s M.L.’s son Richard (Dacre Montgomery) hostage instead, forcing him into a jerry-rigged device that involves a wire and sawed-off shotgun. Demanding reparations, Kiritsis and Hall begin an epic 63-hour standoff that becomes a media frenzy, causing tension between the police and public opinion regarding Tony’s actions.
In Dead Man’s Wire, Van Sant delivers his most compelling film in over a decade. Gripping and charismatic, this is a story that pulsates with fury from start to finish. Visually, the film steps into the 70s with sepia-infused flair. Including blurred cinematography, newspaper clippings and recreated photographs, Van Sant immerses the viewer in the past. We are meant to feel like this is a bygone era. (Which, to be fair, it very much is at this point.) Yet, through his ‘David v. Goliath’ storytelling, Van Sant also ensures that the film still pounds with a heartbeat of relevancy.
With its emphasis on the ‘little guy’ standing up to major companies, there’s simply something about the film that feels current and, more importantly, urgent. Yes, it’s a fun, noteworthy thriller set in the 1970s but it also speaks to the growing anxiety of the present day. There’s an immediacy to a film like this that taps into the increasing gap between rich and poor and the angst that has set in amongst people in the West. Dead Man’s Wire is a (literal) powder keg that’s fueled by socio-cultural intrigue. And that, unironically, feels entirely relevant.
Dead Man’s Wire is playing at TIFF ’25.
