Gus Van Sant's latest film, Dead Man's Wire, is a gripping true-crime suspense thriller set in 1977 Indianapolis. Written by Austin Kolodney, the film draws on the spirit of Sidney Lumet's Dog Day Afternoon and Network, blending black comedy with a cool, unsentimental eye.
The story centres on Tony Kiritsis, a businessman who kidnapped mortgage broker Richard Hall, fastening a 'dead man's wire' to his shotgun so that it would fire if police tried to intervene. Kiritsis paraded Hall on television, reading out demands in a grotesque spectacle that the national networks covered without question. Bill Skarsgård plays the paranoid and rage-filled Kiritsis, while Dacre Montgomery is the unfortunate Hall, held for 72 hours with the noose around his neck.
The supporting cast shines, with Al Pacino delivering an uproarious cameo as Hall's high-handed father, who refuses to offer Kiritsis the apology he seeks. Myha'la (of TV's Industry) plays a fictionalised TV reporter determined to get her scoop, and Colman Domingo excels as a laid-back radio DJ based on real-life host Fred Heckman, whom Kiritsis actually called to broadcast his grievances.
Van Sant recreates the era with a surreal and often hilarious tone, but the film gives scant attention to Hall's trauma, instead mimicking the media and courts of the time, which focused on whether Kiritsis was insane. The result is a compelling, if unsettling, picture with strong performances throughout.
