Finn Little and Angelina Jolie in the thriller Those Who Wish Me Dead, in cinemas now.
A welcome early 90s vibe elevates this solid thriller featuring what feels like Angelina Jolie's first big leading role - outside of the Maleficent movies - in some time.
She plays Hannah Faber, a discharged Montana forest firefighter who remains haunted by a deadly incident. Assigned to a remote fire
tower, she encounters young teen Connor (Finn Little), who has just seen his whistle-blower dad executed by two hitmen played by Nicholas Hoult and Aiden Gillen (Littlefinger from Game of Thrones).
As the hitmen attempt to flush out the witness by starting a forest fire, the local sheriff (Jon Bernthal) and his wife (Medina Senghore) get caught up in the fray.
Hannah's flashback-heavy characterisation is rather rote - we've seen this reckless, guilt-ridden protagonist a million times before, but Jolie sells it. And although she is clearly the lead, the film spends just as much time with various textured supporting characters, who are often more interesting than the ostensible hero.
Bernthal, always good value, makes a meal of the "small-town Sheriff out of his depth" trope. Gillen and Hoult's cool, steely professionalism had me longing for a time when these types of resourceful, remorseless assassins permeated mainstream cinema.
