Dead Man's Wire

Name: Dead Man's Wire
Genre: Biography, Drama, History, Crime
Released: January 9, 2026
Duration: 105 min
Rating: 67

2026

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Generally favorable reviews based on 34 Critic Reviews

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Movie Details & Credits

| Release Date: January 9, 2026 | Not Rated

Summary: The morning of February 8, 1977, Anthony G. “Tony” Kiritsis, 44, entered the office of Richard O. Hall, president of the Meridian Mortgage Company, and took him hostage with a sawed-off 12-gauge shotgun wired with a “dead man’s wire” from the trigger to the Hall’s head. This is the true story of the stand-off that took the world by storm asThe morning of February 8, 1977, Anthony G. “Tony” Kiritsis, 44, entered the office of Richard O. Hall, president of the Meridian Mortgage Company, and took him hostage with a sawed-off 12-gauge shotgun wired with a “dead man’s wire” from the trigger to the Hall’s head. This is the true story of the stand-off that took the world by storm as Tony demanded $5 million, no charges or prosecution, and a personal apology from the Halls for cheating him out of what he was “owed.”… Expand

Genre(s): Biography, Drama, History, Crime

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 105 min

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Critic Reviews

100

RogerEbert.com Matt Zoller Seitz

Jan 9, 2026

Through the ending and postscript, which leave you unsure how to feel about what you’ve seen but eager to discuss it with others, this is a nostalgia trip of the best kind. Read full review

David Rooney

Sep 4, 2025

Dead Man’s Wire is a timely, entertaining reflection on the way the offer of the American Dream often tends to be snatched back. Read full review

Bill Goodykoontz

Jan 16, 2026

Skarsgård makes the character a little sad, a lot delusional but never a joke. And he makes “Dead Man’s Wire” an underrated gem not to sleep on. Read full review

Owen Gleiberman

Sep 4, 2025

There’s no doubt that Dead Man’s Wire holds you. It’s Van Sant’s most vital piece of work for the big screen in some time. The movie plays, and part of it is that it triggers our anti-institutional anger. Read full review

Alexander Mooney

Sep 21, 2025

If Dead Man’s Wire adds up to less than the sum of its vicarious jolts and sardonic jabs, it’s perhaps a result of Gus Van Sant’s style fading into the background. Read full review

Empire John Nugent

Mar 16, 2026

Van Sant’s previous historical fictions have been more incisive, but this is a tense crime thriller, with a solid new addition to Bill Skarsgård’s rogues’ gallery of scumbags. Read full review

Ben Kenigsberg

Jan 8, 2026

When Dead Man’s Wire ends with footage of the real Kiritsis and Hall, it is hard not to conclude that a much crazier, livelier film could have been made. Read full review

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