Dead Man's Wire (2026)
Directed by Gus Van Sant
In 1977, former real estate developer Tony Kiritsis puts a dead man's switch on himself and the mortgage banker who did him wrong, demanding $5 million and a personal apology.
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23 films that influenced Dead Man's Wire
What critics say influenced Dead Man's Wire
Director
Sidney Lumet
Critics invoke Lumet by name, and compare Dead Man's Wire to 3 of Lumet’s films.
Visuals
On Lumet, rather than any one film
The film drips with style, and everything from the music to the clothes to the locations makes it feel like it’s straight out of a Sidney Lumet picture.
La película dialoga claramente con el legado de Sidney Lumet —especialmente en Network y Dog Day Afternoon— al mostrar cómo los medios no solo informan, sino que construyen espectáculo a partir del caos.
His very presence recalls Dog Day Afternoon, the genre’s gold standard, and every time he appears you can’t help wishing you were watching Sidney Lumet’s propulsive classic instead.
There are clear echoes of Sidney Lumet’s Dog Day Afternoon (1975), particularly in how a tense personal conflict evolves into public theatre.
It takes this bonkers real-life story, which was captured live and in color, and gives it the Sidney Lumet “Dog Day Afternoon” treatment.
There are echoes of DOG DAY AFTERNOON in this film, as well as other “little guy” against the system tales, of someone driven over the edge by circumstances.
Al Pacino – an obvious nod to Dog Day Afternoon with which this shares an aesthetic and a theme of events spiralling out of control…
La película dialoga claramente con el legado de Sidney Lumet —especialmente en Network y Dog Day Afternoon— al mostrar cómo los medios no solo informan, sino que construyen espectáculo a partir del caos.
A year removed in time from the great film Network, one can say, on this fateful morning, Tony Kiritsis is as mad as hell and not going to take it anymore.
Skarsgård’s Tony Kiritsis is, to quote another 1970s landmark, “mad as hell and not gonna take it anymore.”
Meanwhile Elwes looks as if he is auditioning for a remake of “Serpico” (1973) and sports a turtleneck and leather jacket.
Think back on those great true crime classics that Sidney Lumet directed in the 1970s, especially “Dog Day Afternoon” and “Serpico” with Al Pacino, and shout “hell yeah” that Gus Van Sant has crafted every frame of “Dead Man’s Wire” in that grand propulsive tradition.
…introduced as though he were in a remake of The Warriors…
However, Domingo is painted into a corner as Temple, given a part that has far less to do with the actual Heckman than it does with either Cleavon Little as Super Soul in Vanishing Point or Lynne Thigpen as the nameless deejay in The Warriors.
However, Domingo is painted into a corner as Temple, given a part that has far less to do with the actual Heckman than it does with either Cleavon Little as Super Soul in Vanishing Point or Lynne Thigpen as the nameless deejay in The Warriors.
The other, more obscure, is “Vanishing Point” from 1971, about the multi-state police chase of a stolen car driver. That film, like “Dead Man’s Wire,” had a DJ (Cleavon Little) narrating the crime on radio to the public.
While nowhere near as structurally audacious as To Die For, its thematic predecessor in Van Sant’s filmography, Dead Man’s Wire is built upon subtle flourishes that complicate its more conventional modes of presentation.
Gus Van Sant is no stranger to the true-crime genre, with both “Drug Store Cowboy” and “To Die For” on his resume.
Or, his characters remain on the outskirts as rebels with a cause, such as “My Own Private Idaho” (1991), “Gerry” (2003), “To Die For” (1995) and “Milk” (2008), his best films.
…who gained notoriety for films like Drugstore Cowboy (1989), To Die For (1995), My Own Private Idaho (1991), and Good Will Hunting (1997)…
Van Sant, whose work eases from indie (“Drugstore Cowboy,” “To Die For”) to the Oscar mainstream (“Good Willing Hunting,” “Milk”)…
There was an era where “Drugstore Cowboy,” “To Die For,” and “Good Will Hunting” suggested that Van Sant would be one of the most essential filmmakers of his generation…
Van Sant retoma preocupaciones que han atravesado su cine desde Elephant hasta My Own Private Idaho: personajes al margen, sistemas que fallan y una mirada que evita juzgar de manera directa.
Two examples from his filmography that perfectly demonstrate this duality are My Own Private Idaho (1991) and Good Will Hunting (1997).
Or, his characters remain on the outskirts as rebels with a cause, such as “My Own Private Idaho” (1991), “Gerry” (2003), “To Die For” (1995) and “Milk” (2008), his best films.
Perhaps best known for My Own Private Idaho and Good Will Hunting…
…who gained notoriety for films like Drugstore Cowboy (1989), To Die For (1995), My Own Private Idaho (1991), and Good Will Hunting (1997)…
Director Gus Van Sant (“Good Will Hunting,” 1997, and “My Own Private Idaho,” 1991)…
…the voyeuristic intensity of projects like “Gerry” and “Last Days” was undeniably effective…
Or, his characters remain on the outskirts as rebels with a cause, such as “My Own Private Idaho” (1991), “Gerry” (2003), “To Die For” (1995) and “Milk” (2008), his best films.
Van Sant retoma preocupaciones que han atravesado su cine desde Elephant hasta My Own Private Idaho: personajes al margen, sistemas que fallan y una mirada que evita juzgar de manera directa.
…while 2003’s Elephant probed the psychology of school shootings.
…director Gus Van Sant ("My Own Private Idaho," "Elephant")…
Elephant, My Own Private Idaho, Good Will Hunting, these are only a few of the iconic projects Van Sant has led…
…in works ranging from My Own Private Idaho to Drugstore Cowboy and Elephant…
…the voyeuristic intensity of projects like “Gerry” and “Last Days” was undeniably effective…
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…deliberately invokes the aesthetic of classics like “Dog Day Afternoon” and “The Taking of Pelham One Two Three,”…
It is a “Falling Down” (1993) for the twenty-first century, but do we really need more stories of rage from entitled men who feel owed and aggrieved and spend more time being violent than earning a reward?
David Fincher’s “Zodiac” (2007) remains the best of the lot, but I enjoyed this one, too.
…a full-on Hollywoodization (see: Pain & Gain)…
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On Coen, rather than any one film
One supposes this is what a Coen brothers movie may feel like were they ever to empathize with their wretched crooks.
On Coen, rather than any one film
One supposes this is what a Coen brothers movie may feel like were they ever to empathize with their wretched crooks.