There is a long arc of history, full of plenty of stories before our time that we might not know. But sometimes those stories come to life in a way we can’t forget. That’s the case with Dead Man’s Wire, a new crime drama that opens in theaters on Friday.

The film comes from director Gus Van Sant, and stars Bill Skarsgard as a man who has been pushed to his limit by a greedy mortgage company. It’s 1977 and Tony (Skarsgard) feels life spinning out of his control. He wants justice, and he’s focused on his target.

On February 8, 1977, Tony walked into his mortgage company. He had a meeting with the company president M.L. Hall (Al Pacino). Except Hall wasn’t there. It was supposed to be a discussion of his loan. But Tony had other plans.

Finding himself instead meeting with Hall’s son, Dick (Dacre Montgomery), Tony has a decision to make. But he came ready, and he enacts his plan. Using a special rig, he takes Dick hostage. Then he takes him on a wild ride that ends up back at his apartment.

There, Tony pleads his case to the police, to a popular local D.J. (Colman Domingo) and to the world. As it plays out in front of the cameras, Tony is determined to get justice for himself and the future he’d imagined.

This is based on a true story and real events that took place in Indianapolis and was the subject of a 2018 documentary. It draws its name from the tool used by Tony to enact his plan, a sort of wire that prevented police or snipers from taking him down recklessly, lest they cause the shotgun to go off and take out Dick.

It’s an interesting story and a different kind of film for Van Sant. This feels like more of a straight-forward period drama. There are some interesting sequences and strong cast, which also includes Cary Elwes and Myha’la as well. That gives this some good potential.

And there are some good moments. Skarsgard—freed from the makeup-heavy horror icons he’s been playing—gets to sink into a different kind of role. You feel for Tony, you even like Tony and identify with his overall goals. That’s a key to make this story work.

I also quite enjoyed Domingo, who spent the back part of 2025 and early 2026 playing the public narrator for films. His back-and-forth with Skarsgard over the airwaves is fun, and his whole personality and deliver pops off the screen.

Unfortunately, it’s not a momentum that can be sustained. Pacino is a big name, and a great living actor. But this is a weird and unsympathetic part. The fact he’s on location and basically phoning into these sequences doesn’t help establish drama or chemistry.

Additionally, the film feels a bit slow. The novelty of the story and the parts that work can only take you so far. In the end, this had its moments but it doesn’t feel like a strong, complete story. Dead Man’s Wire opens in theaters Friday, January 16.

Matthew Fox is a graduate of the Radio, Television and Film program at Biola University, and a giant nerd. He spends his free time watching movies, TV, and obsessing about football. He is a member of the FSWA. You can find him @knighthawk7734 on Twitter and as co-host of the Fantasy Football Roundtable Podcast.