{"id":236584,"date":"2026-01-16T16:33:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-16T16:33:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/236584\/"},"modified":"2026-01-16T16:33:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T16:33:11","slug":"movie-review-dead-mans-wire-runpee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/236584\/","title":{"rendered":"Movie Review \u2013 Dead Man\u2019s Wire \u2013 RunPee"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"dead_mans_wire_hero\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I walked into Dead Man\u2019s Wire with sky-high expectations. Rotten Tomatoes had it sitting at a perfect 100%, and I can\u2019t remember the last time I saw a rating that high for a new release. I was pumped. I was ready. And then I watched it.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the thing \u2013 Rotten Tomatoes got my hopes up for nothing. Don\u2019t get me wrong, this is a good movie. A really good movie, actually. But a 100% rating had me expecting something that would blow my mind, keep me on the edge of my seat, maybe even change my life a little. What I got instead was a slow-burn character study that\u2019s more interested in exploring a man\u2019s desperation than giving you an adrenaline rush.<\/p>\n

——Content continues below——<\/p>\n

Join the PERA (Personal Entertainment Research Assistant) waitlist.<\/a><\/p>\n

\tThe World’s Most Indispensable Movie App<\/p>\n

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run & pee during a movie
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The Skarsg\u00e5rd Show<\/p>\n

Bill Skarsg\u00e5rd was absolutely amazing. Let me repeat that \u2013 AMAZING. In my opinion, this was a one-man show. He was the movie. They could have cast unicorns in the supporting roles and Skarsg\u00e5rd would have been more magical. Is there a movie this guy can\u2019t do? From Pennywise in It to his work in Barbarian, he\u2019s been great in all of his roles. Here, he plays Tony, a man pushed to his breaking point by a mortgage company that he feels screwed him over.<\/p>\n

The film takes place during a hostage situation where Tony kidnaps Dick Hall, the son of the mortgage company owner, demanding to be reimbursed for what was done to him. We don\u2019t get Tony\u2019s backstory handed to us on a silver platter at the beginning. Instead, over the course of the movie, you piece together his motives through conversations and tense moments. It\u2019s effective storytelling, even if it requires patience.<\/p>\n

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Skarsg\u00e5rd inhabits this role completely. You can see the desperation, the anger, and the pain etched into every frame. This isn\u2019t a villain or a hero \u2013 it\u2019s a man who felt he had no other choice, and Skarsg\u00e5rd makes you believe every second of it.<\/p>\n

The Supporting Cast<\/p>\n

Dacre Montgomery (who you might recognize as Billy from Stranger Things) plays Dick Hall, and he remains surprisingly even-tempered throughout the entire ordeal. He\u2019s quiet, measured, and it\u2019s genuinely hard to tell if he\u2019s sympathetic to Tony\u2019s plight or just terrified. That ambiguity actually works well for the film \u2013 you\u2019re never quite sure where his allegiance lies or if he\u2019s simply trying to survive.<\/p>\n

Al Pacino shows up as M.L. Hall, Dick\u2019s father and the owner of the mortgage company, but his part is pretty small. It\u2019s nice to see his face, but his appearance doesn\u2019t add any real pop to the movie. It almost feels like stunt casting \u2013 you get excited when you see him, but then he\u2019s gone before making much impact.<\/p>\n

The Look and Feel<\/p>\n

This movie was based on a true story, and the filmmakers definitely didn\u2019t try to add Hollywood glamor to it. It was gritty and so well shot that I really thought we were watching a movie from the 1970s. The authenticity in the production design, the cinematography, the whole atmosphere \u2013 it all comes together to create something that feels raw and real rather than polished and processed.<\/p>\n

So, Does It Deserve That 100%?<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s where I land: I don\u2019t think this movie deserves a 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, but Skarsg\u00e5rd definitely does. Once I wrapped my head around what this film actually was \u2013 not an exciting thriller but a representation of Tony\u2019s spiral from being abused by a predatory lender \u2013 I could appreciate it for what it accomplished. This isn\u2019t meant to get your heart racing. It\u2019s meant to make you uncomfortable, to make you think about how the system can break people down until they do unthinkable things.<\/p>\n

My disappointment wasn\u2019t really about the film\u2019s quality. It was about expectations. When you see a 100% rating, you expect fireworks. What Dead Man\u2019s Wire delivers instead is a quiet burn that slowly consumes everything in its path.<\/p>\n

Update: Last night Rotten Tomatoes had it at 100%, I just checked again and now it\u2019s at a 91%. That\u2019s better IMO.<\/p>\n

About The Peetimes<\/a>:<\/p>\n

There are extra scenes during, or after, the end credits of Dead Man\u2019s Wire<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Rated:
\n() Language Throughout<\/p>\n

Genres:
\nThriller, Crime, Drama<\/p>\n

USA release date:
\n2026-01-09<\/p>\n

Movie length:<\/p>\n

Starring:<\/p>\n

Director:
\nGus Van Sant<\/p>\n

Writer(s):
\nAustin Kolodney<\/p>\n

Language:
\nen<\/p>\n

Country:
\nUS<\/p>\n

Plot
In 1977, former real estate developer Tony Kiritsis puts a dead man\u2019s switch on himself and the mortgage banker who did him wrong, demanding $5 million and a personal apology.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t miss your favorite movie moments because you have to pee or need a snack. Use the RunPee app (Android<\/a> or iPhone<\/a>) when you go to the movies. We have Peetimes for all wide-release films every week, including Avatar: Fire and Ash, Marty Supreme, Anaconda, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple and coming soon \u00a0Mercy, Send Help, Dracula, Wuthering Heights, How to Make a Killing and many others. We have literally thousands of Peetimes\u2014from classic movies through today’s blockbusters. You can also keep up with movie news and reviews on our blog, or by following us on Twitter @RunPee<\/a>, or Discord<\/a>, BlueSky<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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RunPee.com owes RunPee Sis a huge debt of gratitude. She sees any movie needed with no complaints and has done so for ten years (even basing Thanksgiving and Christmas family festivities around the seeing films). In 2015 Sis ran the entire RunPee enterprise herself, while RunPee Dan, Jilly and Mom went traipsing off to Europe. Sis is the spider in the web holding the RunPee family together \u2014 besides being a funny, well rounded person, and a joyous pleasure to be around. Her favorite films start and end with horror (which thank goodness she\u2019s happy to see, since most of us don\u2019t have the stomach for it) \u2014 but also likes silly comedies, sad dramas, and musicals of all types. If you\u2019ve used a Peetime for a scary film, you probably have RunPee Sis to thank for it.<\/p>\n

Favorite movie genre: Horror, horror, and more horror. The more disturbing, the better. Period.<\/p>\n

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