A new film revisits a bizarre and unsettling true-crime story from 1977, capturing a moment of lawless tension in America. The story centers on Tony Kiritsis, an Indianapolis businessman who, after falling behind on loan payments, took extreme measures against his mortgage broker, Richard Hall.
In a calculated act of desperation, Kiritsis kidnapped Hall and devised a macabre setup: he wired a shotgun to Hall’s neck, creating a “dead man’s switch” that would kill the hostage if police intervened. The situation escalated into a national spectacle when Kiritsis paraded his bound victim on live television to read his demands, a surreal media event that networks broadcast with unsettling passivity.
The film presents Kiritsis as a man consumed by paranoia and rage, convinced that Hall and his father were conspiring to seize his property. Bill Skarsgård delivers a tense performance as the volatile kidnapper, while Dacre Montgomery portrays the terrified broker enduring a 72-hour nightmare with a shotgun barrel permanently pressed to his throat.
The narrative is punctuated by standout supporting roles. Al Pacino appears as Hall’s arrogant father, who dismisses his son’s plight and even mocks the idea that he might be suffering from Stockholm syndrome. Colman Domingo plays a smooth-talking radio host whom Kiritsis calls to air his grievances, adding a layer of dark humor to the crisis. A determined television reporter, played by Myha’la, fights to secure her exclusive on the unfolding drama.
What makes the film particularly compelling is its tone. Rather than focusing exclusively on the victim’s trauma, it mirrors the era’s fascination with the perpetrator’s state of mind. The legal and media circus at the time largely ignored Hall’s psychological ordeal, instead obsessing over whether Kiritsis was legally insane. This creates a bizarre and often darkly comedic atmosphere, highlighting how professional ambition and public spectacle can overshadow human suffering.
The result is a gripping thriller that is as much a commentary on media complicity as it is a recounting of a kidnapping. With sharp performances and a shrewd, unsentimental approach, the film offers a chilling look at a story where madness, media, and manipulation collided.
