by Charles Kirkland, Jr.
After being pushed to the brink, a man takes matters into his own hands as he takes a stand against the fixed corporate machine of large Midwestern mortgage company in Dead Man’s Wire.
On February 8, 1977, Tony Kiritsis walked into the Meridian Mortgage Company in Indianapolis for what was supposed to be a routine meeting with company owner M.L. Hall. When Hall abruptly skipped the appointment to leave for a vacation in Florida, Kiritsis redirected his frustration. He entered the office of Richard Hall, the company president and M.L.’s son, and took him hostage at gunpoint. The weapon was a sawed-off shotgun, rigged with a chilling “dead man’s wire,” a line running from the trigger to Kiritsis’s own neck. This ensured that any attempt to overpower him would result in both men’s deaths. Demanding a public apology and financial restitution, Kiritsis marched Hall out of the building and into his nearby apartment, igniting a tense, days-long standoff with law enforcement.
Dead Man’s Wire, written by Austin Kolodney and based on the 2018 documentary Dead Man’s Line, brings this extraordinary true story to the screen with a cast stacked with talent. The film stars Dacre Montgomery, Bill Skarsgård, Oscar winner Al Pacino, Cary Elwes, Kelly Lynch, and Oscar nominee Colman Domingo. It also marks the return of Gus Van Sant to feature filmmaking after a seven-year absence. Van Sant’s involvement proved pivotal, rescuing the project from years of development limbo after scheduling delays made Nicolas Cage unavailable which influenced director Werner Herzog to exit the project.
At the time, Kiritsis’s actions transformed him into an outlaw folk hero in Indianapolis, a David-versus-Goliath figure railing against what he viewed as a corrupt corporate system, not unlike the mythologizing of D.B. Cooper. While the film effectively captures Kiritsis’s volatility and obsessive mania, it makes a more interesting and unexpected choice. It centers its emotional weight not on the captor, but on Richard Hall, the man whose life is shattered by the event.
From the moment Hall is taken hostage through his limited and devastating communication with his father and into the film’s final moments, Van Sant keeps the emotional lens firmly trained on Richard’s experience. Rather than psychoanalyzing Kiritsis or expanding his mythology, Dead Man’s Wire immerses the audience in the sheer terror, confusion, and helplessness of the man at the other end of the gun. By doing so, the film resists turning Kiritsis into a cult figure and instead restores focus to the story’s most overlooked and forgotten person, the victim himself. This perspective elevates the film beyond the familiar beats of true crime storytelling and makes it feel less like a sensationalized reenactment and more like an intimate psychological drama.
Dacre Montgomery delivers a precise and restrained performance as Richard Hall, grounding the film with quiet desperation and emotional authenticity. Still, the supporting performances are equally noteworthy. Colman Domingo shines as Fred Temple, a hybrid of late-night radio host and spiritual confidant who becomes a crucial intermediary between Kiritsis and law enforcement. Domingo’s effortless cool and measured intensity make him a perfect fit for the role, though the film leaves the viewer wanting more. This feels less like a flaw and more like a testament to how compelling the character is.
Bill Skarsgård, meanwhile, walks a difficult tonal line with remarkable control. His Kiritsis is volatile yet strangely sympathetic. The audience finds itself drawn to him, until a sudden remark or impulsive action snaps that empathy away and reminds us just how dangerous and unstable he truly is. It is a performance that constantly destabilizes the viewer, mirroring the emotional whiplash experienced by those trapped in Kiritsis’s orbit.
Rated R for language throughout, Dead Man’s Wire is a thoughtful and incisive examination of a largely forgotten true crime. Anchored by strong performances and guided by Gus Van Sant’s confident and restrained direction, the film transcends genre conventions. Rather than sensationalizing its subject, it reframes the story as a deeply human drama that prioritizes emotional truth over mythmaking and leaves a lingering impact long after the final frame.
Dead Man’s Wire is in theaters starting January 16, 2026.
Grade: B-
