Spoilers are ahead for the ending of Those Who Wish Me Dead.
For the most part, Those Who Wish Me Dead‘s ending is pretty straight-forward action-movie fare, except when it comes to learning about Owen’s secret. Directed by Yellowstone co-creator Taylor Sheridan, Those Who Wish Me Dead is an action movie comeback for star Angelina Jolie, who plays Hannah — a guilt-ridden smokejumper who takes on a new post at a remote fire tower. Surprisingly, Those Who Wish Me Dead‘s depiction of smokejumpers is pretty spot-on. The first line of defense, smokejumpers parachute in to suppress blazes and construct fire lines. Unfortunately, Hannah couldn’t save a fellow firefighter, which is why the hardened survivalist is so shaken.
While on patrol, Hannah finds Connor (Finn Little), a young boy whose father, Owen (Jake Weber), was killed by two at-large assassins, Jack (Aidan Gillen) and Patrick (Nicholas Hoult). The father-son duo were trying to take refuge with Owen’s brother, Ethan (Jon Bernthal), and his wife, Allison (Medina Senghore) — a Montana couple who are close friends with the thrill-seeking Hannah. After Jack and Patrick use flares to start a wildfire, a note from Owen that indicates why he and Connor were the next targets in the series of contracted kills is enough to convince Hannah that braving the fire is better than waiting for the assassins.
Hannah & Connor Survive The Fire By Hiding In A Stream
Grappling with her post-traumatic stress, Jolie’s Hannah sees the opportunity to protect Connor from the assassins as a kind of redemption for being unable to save her fellow smokejumper and three young campers from an out-of-control blaze. Of course, Hannah’s self-sufficiency — something she learned as a smokejumper — comes in handy, especially after a fire engulfs the Montana forest. After handling the assassins, Hannah and Connor are seemingly boxed in by the blaze. Realizing the nearby stream is their only hope, Hannah convinces Connor to hide underwater with her while the flames lash out at them and their watery protection.
Hannah Strikes Patrick With An Ax & He Dies In The Wildfire
The sequence that unfolds before Hannah and Connor take refuge in the stream is clear-cut proof that Angelina Jolie should return to action films. In what was once a peaceful clearing, Hannah and Patrick take turns hunting each other down while ash rains from the sky. With very few trees to hide behind, Hannah realizes she’ll need to take action soon even though Patrick has the upper-hand; he’s armed with a gun. While Patrick creeps up on Connor, Hannah emerges from the shadows and strikes the would-be assassin with an ax. After beating him to a pulp, Hannah lets the fire finish her handiwork.
Allison Kills Jack Before Reuniting With Ethan In The Fire Tower
After using flares to start a fire, Jack and Patrick make their way to Ethan and Allison’s house, hoping to find Connor. When the assassins force Allison to call her husband, she gives Ethan their secret duress code to alert him of the trouble at home. Allison manages to fight the murderous duo off, but that isn’t the last time she sees them. When Jack and Patrick force Ethan to lead them to Hannah’s fire tower, Ethan ends up getting shot while Hannah and Connor flee the area. Patrick follows the escapees, but Allison, who’s tracked everyone down, fatally shoots an arrogant Jack.
Where Was Those Who Wish Me Dead Filmed?
The 2021 action thriller movie Those Who Wish Me Dead centers around a boy and a smokejumper on the run from two assassins – where was it filmed?
Ethan Dies But Smokejumpers Rescue Hannah, Connor & Allison In The Morning
With one assassin down, Allison heads up the tower to check on Ethan. Once the couple reunite, Allison does what she can to care for Ethan’s gunshot wound, but the growing blaze traps them in the tower. Unable to call for help — Hannah’s communications systems were conveniently fried by a lightning strike earlier in the film — Allison and Ethan realize they aren’t going anywhere until morning. With the fire pinning them down, the couple pull on the tower’s stock of oxygen masks and hold each other, knowing that Ethan won’t make it through the night.
Although the fire leaves the forest scorched in its wake, Hannah and Connor manage to make it back to the fire tower after their dip in the river. Smokejumpers parachute in and split off to help the two parties. While one smokejumper provides Hannah and Connor with water, another climbs up the tower to find Allison ash-laden but alive; Ethan, meanwhile, has bled out overnight. “We looked it right in the eye,” Hannah tells her fellow smokejumper of the blaze. “It was beautiful.“ Connor, on the other hand, admits the fire “scared the s— out of [him].“
Those Who Wish Me Dead Review: Drama Is Suspenseful, But Lacks Strong Plot
But while the film has all of the makings of a memorable neo-western and the protagonists are worth rooting for, its premise is lacking and vague.
Those Who Wish Me Dead Viewers Never Learn What Connor’s Dad Was Hiding
Unfortunately, viewers will be left wondering what, exactly, was on the piece of paper Owen gave Connor. Even by the end of Those Who Wish Me Dead, Sheridan doesn’t dwell on the specifics. Instead, the director provides enough in the way of context clues to let audiences know that the secret Owen is harboring is a really dangerous one — at least for the people it implicates. Before the father-son duo leave for Montana, Owen’s boss, a Florida district attorney, is killed in an alleged gas leak-caused explosion. This prompts Owen to tell Connor that he’s a forensic accountant — he “looks for things that don’t add up.“
What Owen found “implicates a lot of people — people with a lot to lose.” Connor’s father goes on to say it involves governors and congresspeople. While viewers never see what’s on the note, Hannah’s reaction to it says everything; clearly, it’s a massive revelation. Arthur (Tyler Perry), a crime boss who cameos briefly, reminds the assassins that snuffing out all traces of Owen’s work is essential. He implies that any leak to the media would have irrevocable consequences for whoever hired them. Ultimately, Connor decides to hand his father’s evidence over to the media, but Those Who Wish Me Dead simply isn’t interested in sharing the specifics with viewers.
