Dead Shot
Official release poster
Directed by
  • Tom Guard
  • Charles Guard
Screenplay by
Based onThe Road to Balcombe Street
by Steven P. Moysey
Produced by
  • Chris Coen
  • Brian Coffey
  • Rebecca Brown
  • Thorsten Schumacher
Starring
CinematographyMattias Rudh
Edited byTed Guard
Music byMax de Wardener
Production
companies
Distributed bySky Cinema
Release date
  • 12 May 2023 (2023-05-12) (United Kingdom)
Running time
92 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Dead Shot is a 2023 British action thriller film written and directed by Tom and Charles Guard, based on an original screenplay by Ronan Bennett and inspired by the book The Road to Balcombe Street by Steven P. Moysey. The film stars Aml Ameen, Colin Morgan, Tom Vaughan-Lawlor, Sophia Brown, Máiréad Tyers, Mark Strong and Felicity Jones.

The film premiered on Sky Cinema in the United Kingdom, Ireland and other territories on 12 May 2023.

Synopsis

A retired Irish paramilitary (Morgan) witnesses the shooting of his pregnant wife by a British soldier (Ameen) and escapes, wounded and presumed dead, to 1970s London to plot his revenge.[1]

Cast

Production

In February 2018, it was reported that Jamie Dornan and Sam Claflin would star in the film, then titled Borderland, from a screenplay by Ronan Bennett, who wrote the first draft in 2012.[2][3] In July 2020, Tom and Charles Guard, collectively known as the Guard Brothers, signed on to direct the film; they also co-wrote the screenplay with Bennett, which was inspired by the book The Road to Balcombe Street by Steven P. Moysey.[4] That same month, John Boyega, Jack Reynor, Jodie Turner-Smith and Felicity Jones joined the cast, with Dornan and Claflin no longer attached.[4] In April 2022, Aml Ameen, Colin Morgan, Sophia Brown and Mark Strong were added to the cast, while Boyega and Reynor exited the film.[3]

The film is produced by Upper Street, Stylopik, Piecrust Pictures, Highland Midgie, Ingenious Media and Rocket Science, in association with Screen Scotland and LipSync Productions. Producers are Chris Coen, Brian Coffey, Rebecca Brown and Thorsten Schumacher.[3][5] The film's new title was announced as Dead Shot in April 2023.[6]

Filming was originally set to begin in March 2021 but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[7] Filming began in April 2022 in Edinburgh[8] and Glasgow.[3][9] Props and other items from the set were donated to local charities in Scotland after location filming ended.[10]

Release

The film premiered on Sky Cinema in the United Kingdom, Ireland and other territories on 12 May 2023.[6] It was released in the United States in theatres, through video on demand and digitally on 18 August 2023 by Quiver Distribution.[11]

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, Dead Shot holds an approval rating of 71% based on 24 reviews, with an average rating of 6/10.[12]

Paul Whitington of the Irish Independent said the film does not deal in the "philosophical, nor does it offer the viewer much in the way of geopolitical context: it’s a thriller, pure and simple, and a pretty efficient one at that."[13] Leslie Felperin of The Guardian gave the film four stars, praising the period detail and the script, and commented that although "trajectory feels a bit preordained by dramatic convention, there are still stinging twists in store".[14] Kevin Maher of The Times also awarded the film four stars and praised Ronan Bennett's script and called it a "gritty, breakneck B-movie that has moments of epic grandeur".[15]

References

  1. ↑ "Dead Shot". Screen Scotland. 19 March 2021. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
  2. ↑ Kay, Jeremy (16 February 2018). "Jamie Dornan, Sam Claflin join IRA thriller 'Borderland' (exclusive)". Screen Daily. Archived from the original on 17 March 2018. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Grater, Tom (12 April 2022). "Aml Ameen, Colin Morgan & Sophia Brown Join Felicity Jones & Mark Strong In Thriller 'Borderland' As Filming Gets Underway". Deadline Hollywood.
  4. 1 2 Wiseman, Andreas (6 July 2020). "John Boyega, Jack Reynor, Jodie Turner-Smith & Felicity Jones To Star In Thriller 'Borderland' From 'The Uninvited' Directors & 'Public Enemies' Scribe". Deadline Hollywood.
  5. ↑ "Sky announces start of production in Glasgow for Borderland, a Sky Original, on Sky Cinema in 2022". Sky Group. 12 April 2022.
  6. 1 2 Sandwell, Ian (20 April 2023). "First trailer for Top Boy creator's new movie with Merlin and I May Destroy You stars". Digital Spy. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
  7. ↑ Lyons, Bev (7 April 2021). "A-Listers coming to Glasgow as filming of new blockbuster Borderland to begin". Daily Record.
  8. ↑ Armstrong, Gary (4 April 2022). "Borderland filming outside Edinburgh Waverley as Hollywood movie comes to Capital this weekend". Edinburgh Live.
  9. ↑ Murray, Dean (22 April 2022). "Borderland: Photos show NI actor Colin Morgan filming new IRA thriller in Glasgow". Belfast Live.
  10. ↑ Campbell, Sarah (13 June 2022). "Shelter charity shop in Glasgow sells set items from Sky film Borderland". Glasgow Times. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
  11. ↑ Echebiri, Makuochi (29 June 2023). "First 'Dead Shot' Trailer: An IRA Agent Is on a Mission for Revenge". Collider. Retrieved 2 July 2023.
  12. ↑ "Dead Shot". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
  13. ↑ Whitington, Paul (12 May 2023). "Dead Shot review: Colin Morgan is an IRA man out for revenge in this straightforward thriller set during the Troubles". Irish Independent. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
  14. ↑ Felperin, Leslie (12 May 2023). "Dead Shot review – IRA man and British soldier lock horns in Troubles revenge drama". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
  15. ↑ Maher, Kevin (12 May 2023). "Dead Shot review — the return of the IRA antihero". The Times. Archived from the original on 12 May 2023. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
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