“Those Who Wish Me Dead” releases today! I had the immense pleasure of contributing music to this emotive and thematic score.
The film follows a smokejumper named Hannah (Angelina Jolie) who is forever haunted by the tragic loss of lives that she was unable to save from a fire. She crosses paths with Connor (Finn Little) who has been traumatized and is on the run in the secluded forest. As Hannah tries to bring Connor to safety, she realizes his situation is more dire than she could have imagined.
“Those Who Wish Me Dead” is directed by Taylor Sheridan (“Wind River”, “Yellowstone”) who wanted the film to have “the score, the sound design, and the sounds of fire to blend together and leave the audience unsure whether it was being guided by a designed sound, by the sounds of the forest or by the score.” This was achieved, in part, by setting a cello on fire and then recording the sound of the burning strings being played until the instrument reached its breaking point. We sprinkled that recording throughout the score to give the audience a visceral feeling of the burning forest that surrounds the onscreen characters, intensifying their already harrowing circumstances.
The tone of the score, colored with stirring ostinatos and whirring woodwinds, captures both fear and hope. There are battles on many fronts — humans vs nature, good vs evil, man vs his own conscience — marked by panic and danger, but the human spirit proves triumphant not only in the face of external threats but also internal turmoil that can incapacitate even the most trained survivalist.
“Those Who Wish Me Dead” is now in theaters and on HBO Max.