I would say that Those Who Wish Me Dead is a good movie in Taylor Sheridan’s filmography but not his best. He previously wrote/directed the excellent Wind River and wrote Hell or High Water. But that doesn’t make this new flick bad, just disappointing in comparison. But also certainly unique and oddly structured, but not in a completely bad way.

So the film is about… hmm… a forensic auditor who uncovers a secret that two very ruthless killers are looking to cover up. It’s about his boy who he takes on the run to Montana. It’s about a local deputy sheriff and his very pregnant wife. And it’s about a forest service firewatcher who is dealing with her own recent tragic past. And how all these characters and stories collide over a raging forest fire one night.

Angelia Jolie plays the firewatcher… and it’s nice to see her back in action and very curious to see her return to thrillers like this. It seems we haven’t seen much of her and certainly not in a genre action/suspense film like this in quite awhile. She’s joined by a good cast including Jon Bernthal, Aiden Gillen, Nicholas Hoult, newcomer Finn Little, plus some other very good actors. It’s a good cast full of interesting players… and then a wild Tyler Perry appears!

Gillen and Hoult play the killers and they are pretty good. I’m not thinking their performances are amazing but their writing is solid. They convinced me of their ruthlessness and that added extra gravity and unpredictability to their scenes.

The film itself though is a little bit of a mixed bag. I think it’s always interesting and it’s kind of fascinating how disconnected the characters are from one another. You might call that a mess of a movie but I think it’s all planned out and intentional. It’s not always satisfying, especially the McGuffin of the movie that sets everything in action. What information are the killers trying to hide? Does it matter? Not if it’s a real McGuffin and (spoiler alert) it ultimately is.

I’m not sure everything hangs together in the film and there were stages of impatience and even boredom on my part. That’s not a good sign… though I think it ultimately does work. I’ll just say it’s worth a look… though better to go watch Wind River and Hell or High Water first for a taste of some of his other mature thrillers.

Score: 76