DEAD MAN’S WIRE movie poster | ©2025 Row K Entertainment

Rating: R
Stars: Bill Skarsgård, Dacre Montgomery, Cary Elwes, Colman Domingo, Al Pacino, Myha’la
Writer: Austin Kolodney
Director: Gus Van Sant
Distributor: Row K Entertainment
Release Date: December 12, 2025 (theatrical limited), January 9, 2026 (theatrical wide)

Although the events in the “based on a true story” DEAD MAN’S WIRE play as pretty absurd at times, archival news footage suggests that the real incident may have been even crazier than what’s in this movie. A 2018 documentary about the case, DEAD MAN’S LINE, is available on Amazon, but viewers of this narrative feature won’t need to search even that far for verification, as the closing credits here include some eye-widening press coverage.

On February 8, 1977, Tony Kiritsis (played here by Bill Skarsgård) has an appointment to see M.L. Hall (Al Pacino), head of the Indianapolis-based Meridian Mortgage Company. However, M.L. is on vacation in Florida, so Tony has to make do with meeting with M.L.’s son, Meridian president Richard “Dick” Hall (Dacre Montgomery).

Tony is aggrieved by Meridian’s policies, especially as they apply to land he purchased and wanted to develop. Meridian’s position is that Tony defaulted on the loan; Tony asserts that Meridian sold him the land with the intention of making it impossible for him to follow through with his plans.

Whatever the truth is – and M.L.’s attitude makes us inclined to think Tony probably has a point – Tony wants reparations and an apology from M.L. To facilitate this, Tony manages to attach a shotgun to Dick and, despite a quickly-growing police presence on site, gets him from the Meridian offices back to Tony’s apartment. The gun is equipped with a “dead man’s wire” – a rig that will cause the weapon to fire if there is too much movement.

A hostage situation ensues, with Tony and Dick holed up in Tony’s apartment. Much to his consternation, at Tony’s insistence, Indianapolis morning disc jockey Fred Temple (played by Colman Domingo and reportedly inspired by WIBC newscaster Fred Heckman) is wrangled into being the mediator between the hostage-taker and the authorities.

Director Gus Van Sant and his production team do a great job of bringing us back to Midwestern 1977. At the same time, Van Sant and screenwriter Austin Kolodney are aware that financial institutions have not ceased messing with their customers up through the present, which gives DEAD MAN’S WIRE a certain timelessness.

The action is a series of wait-what-are-you-kidding-me sequences that are mostly simultaneously horrifying and hilarious. Tony may or may not have a righteous cause, but he’s undeniably got an ego and a taste for the bombastic. We feel for Dick, not simply because of his dire straits, but because the more we learn, the worse his whole life seems to be. And we’re right there with Fred, wondering how to keep the peace and if this is going to blow up in his face.

Skarsgård is growly and grouchy and deftly moves through Tony’s sometimes amusing, sometimes alarming mood shifts. Montgomery elicits our sympathy as the trapped Dick. Domingo is perfect as the outwardly smooth, inwardly unnerved Fred. Cary Elwes is sturdily credible as the detective in charge of the case and Myha’la has verve as a TV reporter who is innovative as she follows the story. Pacino demonstrates glee in showing M.L. at his most unselfconsciously vile.

Even without the Pacino link, DEAD MAN’S WIRE is reminiscent of DOG DAY AFTERNOON. We believe the incredible events of this crime dramedy because the filmmakers are so good at providing the rueful, lifelike sense that sometimes you just can’t make this stuff up.

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