Dead Man Down review

The girl who played with Farrell

Why you can trust GamesRadar+ Our experts review games, movies and tech over countless hours, so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about our reviews policy.

Marking the English-language debut of Niels Arden Oplev (the original The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo ), Dead Man Down is, on the surface, a fairly standard revenge thriller; a sort of brooding, steel-gray Death Wish with Colin Farrell as a good-looking Charles Bronson stand-in.

However, from the moment it begins, it drags you into a curious world where nothing is ever fully explained, where you’re forced to piece together an interweaving story from scraps of information, all of it leading up to an endgame most Hollywood movies would just telegraph in the first five minutes.

Farrell is a Hungarian engineer named Victor whose family was executed by a slickster drug-lord (Terence Howard) with a dandy name (Alphonse).

Naturally, Vic has dedicated his life to assassinating Alphonse’s crew, saving the top villain for last.

His vengeance scheme is temporarily thwarted when his disfigured neighbour Beatrice (Noomi Rapace) finds him out and threatens to spill the beans, unless he helps her with her own twisted plans for revenge against the creep who scarred her.

From there, the twists pile high. The last act does a dizzy 180 into John Woo-esque mega-violence, essentially obliterating the film’s shadowy mood into a billion bloody shards.

This is good news for everyone who fell asleep a half-hour before, but feels like an over-reach, like the scribbled notes of a Hollywood suit demanding more crunching bones and spraying bullets.

Still, even with its uneven tone, there’s a lot to like. The hazy tech-noir gloom of the first half is hypnotic, with Rapace’s crazy-eyed Beatrice adding a layer of uncanniness rarely seen in mainstream thrillers.

Meanwhile, the skull-smashing finale is, if nothing else, attention-grabbing.

In an era where CGI and destruction-porn can often trump idiosyncrasy, it’s refreshing to see a director like Oplev ladling a tasty dollop of high weirdness into the mix.

A jagged, unbalanced (in every sense) revenge flick that nonetheless offers up twists and brooding noir-ness. The first half churns slow before giving way to a whiplash, blood-soaked finale.

Freelance writer

Ken McIntyre is a freelance writer who has spent years covering music and film. You'll find Ken in the pages of Total Film and here on GamesRadar, using his experience and expertise to dive into the history of cinema and review the latest films. You'll also find him writing features and columns for other Future Plc brands, such as Metal Hammer and Classic Rock magazine. 

Latest in Mystery Movies
Ian McKellen as Gandalf the White in Lord of the Rings
The internet is debating which movies were perfectly cast, from Lord of the Rings to Knives Out
Knives Out 3
First look at Daniel Craig in Knives Out 3 has got us trying to figure out a mystery: will the film be in black and white?
Thomas Haden Church
Knives Out 3 adds Sam Raimi Spider-Man villain to cast
Thanos is joining Rian Johnson's Knives Out universe but he's leaving the Infinity Stones behind
Jeremy Renner
Knives Out 3 adds Black Swan star Mila Kunis and Marvel star Jeremy 'Hawkeye' Renner following his hot sauce-related cameo in Glass Onion
Glenn Close in Four Good Days
Django Unchained and Fatal Attraction stars latest to join Daniel Craig in Knives Out 3
Latest in Reviews
Image of the Corsair Virtuoso Max wireless headset sitting on top of a gaming PC case taken by writer Rosalie Newcombe.
Corsair Virtuoso Max Wireless review - a PC headset tour de force
Zombicide box featuring stylized art of survivors fighting zombies
Zombicide 2nd Edition review: "Like a zombie flick brought to tabletop"
Razer Handheld Dock with Steam Deck sitting on cradle, pink and yellow RGB lighting on, and Alienware monitor in background with Tomb Raider Trilogy gameplay on screen.
Razer Handheld Dock review: “Your Steam Deck will ride shiny and Chroma"
Photographs of the Agricola board game in play
Agricola review: "Accurate representation of the highly competitive and often unstable world of agriculture"
Photos taken by writer Rosalie Newcombe of the Shure MV7i microphone, within a pink and white themed room.
Shure MV7i review - convenience and excellence rolled into one superb sounding package
Key art for Atomfall showing a character in the English countryside looking at a nuclear plant some distance away
Atomfall review: "This isn't British Fallout – it's something much better than that"