Dead Shot (2023) Review!!

Synopsis – When a border ambush goes wrong, a retired Irish paramilitary Michael (Morgan) witnesses the fatal shooting of his pregnant wife by British Sergeant, Tempest (Ameen). Now wounded, and presumed dead, he escapes, taking his revenge to the dark and paranoid streets of 1970’s London. Raw and suspenseful, Dead Shot is an adrenaline-fueled thriller that will leave audiences weighing up the true cost of revenge.

My Take – Though there have been many films about the IRA (Irish Republican Army) at the height of the troubles, only few like The Crying Game (1992), In The Name of the Father (1993), The Devil’s Own (1997) and ’71 (2014), manage to strike a chord and capture the grungy and nihilistic reality of the particularly dirty war, while the others have been accused of being mostly tone-deaf.

This latest Sky Original from directors Charles and Thomas Guard (2009’s The Uninvited), who co-wrote the film with Ronan Bennett (Public Enemies), falls somewhere in between. Dark, gritty and full of genuine unpleasantness, this one works as a decent straightforward revenge thriller that is pretty much harmless and not particularly memorable either.

Whilst the story gives us little that is particular novel, the 1970s London setting is well-realized and is laced with a solid level of tension throughout.

Sure, the elements are predictable, but there is a raw and unrelenting atmosphere of impending doom from the first scene to the last as it twists and turns through London’s vast network of bustling grey streets and dark lonely alleys that lends the flick an aesthetic reminiscent of classic pulpy TV shows, making it a standout.

Set in the early 1970s, the story follows Michael O’Hara (Colin Morgan), a retired IRA paramilitary man living in Northern Ireland who is tired of the fight and longs for an escape alongside Carol (Máiréad Tyers), his heavily pregnant wife. But as the baby announces its intention to arrive, tragedy strikes as they encounter a troupe of British SAS soldiers. As Morgan runs from the car seeking safety on the instruction of his wife, Henry Tempest (Aml Ameen), a young soldier, believes him to still be in the car and fires through the windscreen, killing his wife and their unborn child.

While Henry is spirited back to London and recruited by Holland (Mark Strong), an MI5 handler to join a dedicated group hunting IRA members in London. Little does he know that a devastated Micheal is alive and heading to London hell-bent on exacting his revenge on him. The hunt sees two men pitted against one another in a web of secrets, lies, manipulation and intrigue on the cold and dark streets of central London.

Adding moral weight comes courtesy of the women who witness the jockeying males are O’Hara’s IRA go-between Catherine (Felicity Jones), and Tempest’s old flame, Ruth (Sophia Brown), a canny shopkeeper he loves but still takes advantage of. Without a doubt the director duo catch the spirit of the time with an authentic feeling and visual representation of those difficult years.

They keep the thriller tight to stir up the intensity, and focus mainly on motivations, creating psychological challenges for the characters as they deal with so much over an 85 minutes short run time. It’s not a grand detailing of the era and its woes, but the directors Charles and Thomas Guard wisely get raw with the material, making for a riveting sit.

Most importantly, they avoid most of the political issues, focusing more on the characters and their story than on the social tensions, which are there shaping the story, but without breaking the plot that has to be told. They are there setting the atmosphere but without interfering in the development of the thriller.

However, much of the setup is gloomy and a bit pedestrian, there are a couple of impressive action sequences and the tense opening attack at the start of the film that will draw you in and keep you watching just to see how Michael and Tempest’s story of revenge plays out. The film needed to feel real and believable, and draw out the personal stories of at least the leads well as well as the ideology on both sides of the conflict to hit spot on.

Nevertheless, it does boast strong performances from the cast, most Colin Morgan and Aml Ameen, who sell both sides of the collision course quite well, never seeking favor over another. Mark Strong makes for a satisfyingly slippery impression as Tempest’s nefarious new boss, while Tom Vaughan-Lawlor is believable as the kind of sociopath that prospers in societal breakdowns.

Sadly, Felicity Jones and Sophia Brown are under used, despite providing nice support. Máiréad Tyers too is decent in a small role. On the whole, ‘Dead Shot’ is a decent basic revenge thriller dressed up as a gritty Troubles feature.