TIFF25 REVIEW: Dead Man’s Wire [2025]

Rating: NR | Runtime: 105 minutes
Release Date: January 9th, 2026 (USA)
Studio: Row K Entertainment
Director(s): Gus Van Sant
Writer(s): Austin Kolodney

Let’s get comfy.

Tony Kiritsis (Bill Skarsgård) just wants respect. He doesn’t want to harm anyone who hasn’t harmed him. So, Barb the receptionist is fine. Heck, even Detective Michael Grable (Cary Elwes) is fine—they frequent the same bar and have had drinks together before. Tony knows half the police department by their first name for that matter. He’s a loquacious eccentric who simply gets along with people and maybe that’s why he’s in this situation. Because he trusted M.L. Hall (Al Pacino) and Meridian Mortgage to put his best interests first. He assumed everyone he knew was a stand-up guy who understood the common man’s plight. He was wrong.

The true-life events portrayed in director Gus Van Sant and writer Austin Kolodney’s Dead Man’s Wire are Tony’s attempt to get back what he’s owed (and should have earned). Sure, revenge proves a motivating factor too, but his main concern is receiving an apology wherein M.L. admits wrongdoing. Because Tony says he had deals lined up to develop the plot of land he used a Meridian loan to purchase, but they did nothing to facilitate. Not only that, but they also dragged their feet to the point where Tony was liable to default so they could offer him a garbage deal and take it off his hands. The little guy finally gains the upper hand on an investment and the big fish still finds a way to steal it.

It should be M.L. on the other end of Tony’s shotgun rig, but his son, and president of the company, Dick (Dacre Montgomery) will do just fine now that dad is vacationing in Florida. There’s no way Dick didn’t also know what was going on, so Tony doesn’t feel bad or think he’s taken an innocent hostage instead. He does feel for the man’s family, but this is what’s needed to expose their company for the crooks they are. When you hire someone to look after you, that is what you expect. You’re not supposed to be pushed aside for stockholders. You’re not supposed to be reminded that generational wealth is the only way for an American to succeed.

Is there credence to Tony’s claims? We want to assume the answer is yes, but this is an unhinged man. All we know for certain—and all the filmmakers truly need to provide for our investment—is that he believes this occurred. And since the rest is driven by that reality, we must also believe he will kill Dick if he doesn’t receive his demands. That his apartment is actually rigged to explode if anyone tries to gain access, but also that he will ensure his hostage remains unharmed if his terms are satisfied. Because this isn’t about celebrity or attention. It’s about justice. Those other things are fun, though. How else could Tony have been able to call Fred “the voice of Indianapolis” Temple (Colman Domingo) at home?

This beloved radio DJ is just another piece to what Grable affectionately calls a “shitshow” that spirals out of control from the start. Tony has the whole city at the barrel of his gun and dictates the terms throughout. So, when he’s tired of the police, he calls a man of the people like Fred to get his voice out into the streets. Citizens like him will understand his righteous anger. They’ll agree that he isn’t a deranged opportunist, but a bona fide folk hero. Is that why Fred complies? No. He wants to help save a man’s life. The media, though? They see dollar signs and career advancement. Linda Page (Myha’la) is riding this story to prime time and her boss prays he’ll get to air a murder on live television.

Tony Kiritsis’ story is a wild one and this period piece does it justice as an historical curio with immense entertainment value from hindsight. Skarsgård is having an absolute blast in the role, effortlessly sliding between honest empathy and temperamental impatience with each changing development outside his window. And there’s a nice rapport with Montgomery too—one teasing a Come-to-Jesus moment insofar as complicity is concerned that’s ultimately helped by a brief Pacino showcase to reveal M.L. is the remorseless bastard Tony says he is. Does that thaw ever occur? Not really. That’s the trouble with true stories sometimes. The most intriguing potential for complexity within them must be ignored for veracity’s sake.

Dead Man’s Wire is solid, nonetheless. Van Sant infuses it with an energetic air of farce that flirts with the inherent satirical messaging within such indelible moments that transcend reason to become part of the zeitgeist. The sheer logistics of Tony crafting all these contraptions to hold the police at bay and ensure his own safety from a sniper’s bullet is enough to prove how singular an event this was in 1976. The confusion from thinking it was a robbery only to watch perpetrator and victim walk down the block to change venues provides so much chaos that anything can happen and be easily recorded without strict barriers from public consumption. It truly feels like a precursor to reality television.