Plenty of movies went under the radar when Covid-19 caused movie theaters to be shuttered, but one such picture starring Angelina Jolie is now seeing its day in the spotlight.
This film is Those Who Wish Me Dead, which was released in 2021 — it didn't do well upon release, but after being added to Netflix UK's catalog on Wednesday, September 27, it's received interest from a whole new batch of fans. At the time of writing a week later, it's on the service's local most-streamed movies list, and has been for several days.
Those Who Wish Me Dead stars Jolie as a Montana-based smokejumper (someone who fights forest wildfires). When she finds a lost child when out on a patrol, she inadvertently finds herself head-to-head with some hitmen hunting him, who'll go to any lengths to get the boy.
The movie is the most recent one directed by Taylor Sheridan, who's better known for his screenwriting (Hell or High Water, Sicario, Without Remorse) and the many hit TV shows he's created (Yellowstone and its various spin-offs, Mayor of Kingstown, Tulsa King, Special Ops: Lioness). Sheridan also directed the acclaimed Wind River, with TWWMD his third directed movie.
Critics didn't love Those Who Wish Me Dead when it came out, and it sits at 62% on Rotten Tomatoes right now. Audiences were even less keen; even though it has 86% audience score on the same website, the movie ended up being a total bomb.
While an exact budget for the movie is hard to find, it has the sad label of being the fourth-worst 'wide opening' (over 3,000 movie theaters in the US) of all time, according to Box Office Mojo. Two of the movies above it: Reminiscence and Copshop, actually came out afterward, meaning TWWMD was the second-worst ever for several months. That's not exactly a great accolade.
Of course, as with those other two movies (and the third spot, The Rhythm Section), the movie's box office performance was definitely affected by Covid. While restrictions were lifting, or had lifted, in different parts of the world, the movie theater business was slow to build back again. People just weren't keen to see movies on the big screen back in mid-2021.
It doesn't help that, in the US, Those Who Wish Me Dead was released on Max (then HBO Max) at the same time it was in theaters, as part of a strategy Warner Bros. had to release its movies digitally and physically at the same time. So fans didn't have to leave the comfort of their home to see the movie.
But if you're into crime thrillers, especially ones based in nature (ie, Taylor Sheridan's kind of story), then you might really love TWWMD. It combines classic hitman-pursuit action with some personal drama and wilderness survival, with a few surprisingly big faces in minor roles.
In other words, it's the perfect kind of Netflix thriller, that you can watch at home on a drizzly day under the comfort of a warm blanket, and feel very glad that you're not stuck in the woods with Jolie.
