Venice Review: Gus Van Sant's Dead Man's Wire Delivers an Enjoyable Cinematic Experience

      Gus Van Sant makes a comeback with Dead Man’s Wire, a film shot in the same late-70s tones as Kelly Reichardt’s recent treasure The Mastermind, and similarly focused on lawless individuals and the contradiction of a principled criminal. However, Van Sant's movie is much more inclined to adhere to genre conventions compared to Reichardt's brilliant subversion. Bill Skarsgård devours a significant amount of scenery as the real-life Tony Kiritsis, who kidnapped his mortgage broker in 1977 after falling behind on payment for a potentially profitable piece of land. Van Sant envisions this story in a manner reminiscent of Dog Day Afternoon: an outlandish and stranger-than-fiction tale about well-meaning intentions gone awry. It’s rather amusing.

      I wasn’t surprised to find out that Werner Herzog and Nicolas Cage were attached to the project as recently as last year—this is precisely the type of captivating story that you can picture being dramatized numerous times before. Yet, apart from the 2018 documentary Dead Man’s Line and the inevitable true-crime podcast American Hostage, it surprisingly hasn't been. The film features a vibrant ensemble, brimming with inventive touches and a pulpy vitality, but Kiritsis remains the focal point. The challenge for Van Sant was to portray the character in a way that allows for some empathy.

      The narrative unfolds with the downcast Hoosier, perceiving a plot to rob him, entering the Meridian Mortgage Company offices and wiring a sawn-off shotgun to the head of president Richard Hall, with the other end connected to his own head. Remarkably, the two made it to Kiritsis’s apartment, where they barricaded themselves for nearly three days. Through Van Sant’s perspective and Skarsgård’s portrayal, we never truly believe Hall (played here by Dacre Montgomery, known as Max’s stepbrother in Stranger Things) will fall victim to Stockholm syndrome, yet the film creates just enough tension to imply that his view of Kiritsis may be softening.

      While this duo is central to the plot, Van Sant broadens the scope by involving multiple active characters in the drama. Prominent among them is Fred Heckman (charmingly played by Colman Domingo), a well-known local radio DJ whom Kiritsis began calling, with the authorities encouraging Heckman to play along. Additionally, there’s the young reporter Linda Page, a role that allows the rising star Myha’la to sport an afro. Hall’s father, M.L., is portrayed by Al Pacino, who adds a delightful southern drawl and, much like in his performance in Juliea Schnabel’s In The Hand of Dante (which also screened in Venice this week), never stands up. I particularly enjoyed the team of police officers and FBI agents, led by Cary Elwes (unrecognizable with a considerable beard). Besides Elwes, each cop is played by a character actor with a wonderfully worn face that I can’t remember seeing before.

      Aside from the somewhat distracting Skarsgård (who remains at a constant 12 when a couple of 8.5s might have been better), the film boasts a solid array of enjoyable performances that, along with its aesthetic, feels authentically aligned with the era's vibes. It’s especially refreshing to see Van Sant reveling in the creative process here: images may freeze mid-frame; at other moments, the camera unexpectedly zooms in, just for the sheer thrill of it. Frazzled TV reporters relentlessly pursue the shot that will catapult their careers to prime time—you know, that sort of thing. If you squint, it almost resembles reality.

      Dead Man’s Wire marks Van Sant’s first feature film in seven years, a span during which his only work was directing eight episodes of the second season of Ryan Murphy’s Feud. The mostly forgotten but enjoyable Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot is essentially the only well-received project he’s had since Milk—a film that, now 17 years old, could legally donate blood in most states. Amidst the final days before critics began formulating their thoughts for Twitter, Sea of Trees can at least claim to be the last film to receive significant boos at Cannes. It’s difficult for me to label Dead Man’s Wire as a true return to form, but it will certainly suffice until one comes along.

      Dead Man’s Wire premiered at the 2025 Venice Film Festival.