# Deadfall (2012 film)
**Deadfall** is a 2012 American crime thriller directed by Stefan Ruzowitzky, in which a brother and sister flee a botched casino heist through a snowbound upper Michigan winter toward the Canadian border, colliding with an estranged family's [Thanksgiving](https://www.edgepedia.org/thanksgiving) reunion. It stars [Eric Bana](https://www.edgepedia.org/eric-bana), Olivia Wilde, Charlie Hunnam, Sissy Spacek, Kris Kristofferson, Kate Mara, and [Treat Williams](https://www.edgepedia.org/treat-williams), from a screenplay by first-time screenwriter Zach Dean.[1](https://tribecafilm.com/festival/archive/512cf6351c7d76e046001b67-deadfall) • [2](https://www.screendaily.com/deadfall/5049604.article)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director / writer | Stefan Ruzowitzky; screenplay by Zach Dean, his first produced script[1](https://tribecafilm.com/festival/archive/512cf6351c7d76e046001b67-deadfall) • [2](https://www.screendaily.com/deadfall/5049604.article) |
| Principal cast | Eric Bana (Addison), Olivia Wilde (Liza), Charlie Hunnam (Jay), Sissy Spacek (June), Kris Kristofferson (Chet), Kate Mara (Hanna), Treat Williams (Sheriff Becker)[1](https://tribecafilm.com/festival/archive/512cf6351c7d76e046001b67-deadfall) |
| Premiere and release | World premiere at the Tribeca Festival in April 2012; limited US theatrical release December 7, 2012 through Magnolia Pictures[1](https://tribecafilm.com/festival/archive/512cf6351c7d76e046001b67-deadfall) • [3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/deadfall_2012) |
| Runtime and rating | 94 minutes; rated R for strong violence, language, and sexuality[1](https://tribecafilm.com/festival/archive/512cf6351c7d76e046001b67-deadfall) • [3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/deadfall_2012) |
| Box office | $64.4K gross in the United States[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/deadfall_2012) |
| Critical reception | 34% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer (79 reviews); Metascore 52 on Metacritic; 6.2/10 on IMDb from about 43,000 users[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/deadfall_2012) • [4](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/deadfall/critic-reviews/) • [5](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1667310/ratings/) |
| Production | Budget about $12 million; 34 shooting days[6](https://wegotthiscovered.com/movies/interview-stefan-ruzowitzky-deadfall/) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
The film opens before Thanksgiving with siblings Addison (Eric Bana) and Liza ([Olivia Wilde](https://www.edgepedia.org/olivia-wilde)) counting the loot from a casino heist during their getaway. Their car crashes, killing their partner, and Addison murders a highway patrolman who stops at the scene, forcing the two to split up and head on foot toward the Canadian border.[7](https://www.filmcomment.com/review-deadfall/) • [8](https://www.sfchronicle.com/movies/article/Deadfall-review-Disappointing-noir-4135694.php)
Meanwhile, Jay ([Charlie Hunnam](https://www.edgepedia.org/charlie-hunnam)), a former Olympic silver medalist boxer recently released from a Detroit prison after taking a fall in a fixed fight, is heading home for Thanksgiving. Liza catches a ride with him, and the two fall in love on the road; he eventually brings her to meet his parents at their farmhouse, where his mother June ([Sissy Spacek](https://www.edgepedia.org/sissy-spacek)) welcomes her and his father Chet ([Kris Kristofferson](https://www.edgepedia.org/kris-kristofferson)), a retired sheriff from whom Jay is estranged, remains hostile.[7](https://www.filmcomment.com/review-deadfall/) • [8](https://www.sfchronicle.com/movies/article/Deadfall-review-Disappointing-noir-4135694.php) • [9](https://www.joblo.com/review-deadfall/)
A third family thread follows deputy Hanna ([Kate Mara](https://www.edgepedia.org/kate-mara)), who is awaiting her [FBI Academy](https://www.edgepedia.org/fbi-academy) test results, and her father, the town's misogynistic sheriff Becker (Treat Williams), as they pursue the fugitives. All the characters converge at the farmhouse for a [Thanksgiving dinner](https://www.edgepedia.org/thanksgiving-dinner) that ends in a bloody shoot-out.[7](https://www.filmcomment.com/review-deadfall/) • [4](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/deadfall/critic-reviews/)
## Production
Ruzowitzky, an Austrian filmmaker whose 2007 drama *The Counterfeiters* won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 2008, made *Deadfall* as his first Hollywood production and his US debut.[2](https://www.screendaily.com/deadfall/5049604.article) • [10](https://www.heyuguys.com/stefan-ruzowitzky-interview/?amp=&noamp=mobile) The film was shot on a budget of about $12 million over 34 shooting days, a schedule Ruzowitzky described as tight for a picture with action sequences.[6](https://wegotthiscovered.com/movies/interview-stefan-ruzowitzky-deadfall/)
During development the film circulated under the titles *Kin*, *Blackbird*, and *Cold Blood* before settling on *Deadfall*. It opened in Germany and a few smaller international markets in November 2012, ahead of the December 7 limited US theatrical release, which was timed to promote early availability on domestic video on demand.[2](https://www.screendaily.com/deadfall/5049604.article) In Spain it was released on November 15, 2013 as *La huida*, earning 78,260.78 euros from 13,680 admissions.[11](https://infoicaa.mcu.es/CatalogoICAA/en-us/Peliculas/Detalle?Pelicula=124313)
The crew included cinematographer Shane Hurlbut, editors Arthur Tarnowski and Dan Zimmerman, composer [Marco Beltrami](https://www.edgepedia.org/marco-beltrami), and production designer Paul Denham Austerberry.[12](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/69155-DEADFALL)
## Reception
Critical response was mixed. The film scored 34% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer from 79 reviews and a Metascore of 52, labeled "mixed or average" on Metacritic, where 9 of 24 reviews were positive, 9 mixed, and 6 negative.[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/deadfall_2012) • [4](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/deadfall/critic-reviews/) The most favorable notices came from Salon (90), IndieWire (83), and Variety (80), while NPR's review scored 55.[4](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/deadfall/critic-reviews/)
**Recurring praise and criticism.** Reviewers repeatedly singled out Eric Bana's performance as Addison, a charming killer with a capacity for sudden violence; the St. Louis Post-Dispatch called him "an effective bad guy," and JoBlo's critic wrote that he "steals the show."[4](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/deadfall/critic-reviews/) • [9](https://www.joblo.com/review-deadfall/) Common criticisms targeted the script: [The Hollywood Reporter](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-hollywood-reporter) found "the pedestrian writing holds it back," the Los Angeles Times called the dialogue at points "ludicrously off," and ReelViews wrote that the film "suffers most obviously from a sense of not being adequately developed."[4](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/deadfall/critic-reviews/) • [13](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-xpm-2012-dec-06-la-et-mn-deadfall-review-20121207-story.html) Several critics compared it unfavorably with the [Coen brothers](https://www.edgepedia.org/coen-brothers)' *Fargo*; the London Evening Standard wrote, "You can't help thinking how good the Coen brothers' Fargo was in comparison."[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/deadfall_2012)
The film's commercial performance was modest: $64.4K at the US box office from its limited release.[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/deadfall_2012)
## Genre context
A [York University](https://www.edgepedia.org/york-university) study of the crime film places *Deadfall* in the "snow noir" cycle that followed the financial success of the Coen brothers' *Fargo* (1996), alongside films such as *A Simple Plan* (1998), *Insomnia* (2002), *Frozen River* (2008), and *Winter's Bone* (2010).[14](https://yorkspace.library.yorku.ca/server/api/core/bitstreams/37f798b2-5c00-4878-8635-e218c07a4e79/content) Reviewers made the same connection at the time: The Hollywood Reporter described the film's tone as aiming "somewhere between Sam Raimi's *A Simple Plan* and the brilliant Pine Barrens episode of *The Sopranos*," and Screen International called it "a Coen-esque crime thriller with a nicely edgy tone and a handsome widescreen look."[4](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/deadfall/critic-reviews/) • [2](https://www.screendaily.com/deadfall/5049604.article) Film Comment compared its premise to the home-invasion thriller *The Desperate Hours*, in its 1955 and 1990 versions.[7](https://www.filmcomment.com/review-deadfall/)
## References
1. [Deadfall, Tribeca Festival archive](https://tribecafilm.com/festival/archive/512cf6351c7d76e046001b67-deadfall)
2. [John Hazelton, "Deadfall," Screen International, December 3, 2012](https://www.screendaily.com/deadfall/5049604.article)
3. [Deadfall, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/deadfall_2012)
4. [Deadfall critic reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/deadfall/critic-reviews/)
5. [Deadfall (2012) ratings, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1667310/ratings/)
6. [Exclusive Interview With Stefan Ruzowitzky On Deadfall, We Got This Covered, December 6, 2012](https://wegotthiscovered.com/movies/interview-stefan-ruzowitzky-deadfall/)
7. [John Wildman, "Review: Deadfall," Film Comment, November-December 2012](https://www.filmcomment.com/review-deadfall/)
8. [Walter Addiego, "'Deadfall' review: Disappointing noir," San Francisco Chronicle, December 20, 2012](https://www.sfchronicle.com/movies/article/Deadfall-review-Disappointing-noir-4135694.php)
9. [Eric Walkuski, "Review: Deadfall," JoBlo.com](https://www.joblo.com/review-deadfall/)
10. [The HeyUGuys Interview: Stefan Ruzowitzky talks Deadfall, May 8, 2013](https://www.heyuguys.com/stefan-ruzowitzky-interview/?amp=&noamp=mobile)
11. [HUIDA (DEADFALL), LA, ICAA Film Database, Spain](https://infoicaa.mcu.es/CatalogoICAA/en-us/Peliculas/Detalle?Pelicula=124313)
12. [Deadfall (2012), AFI Catalog](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/69155-DEADFALL)
13. [Betsy Sharkey, "'Deadfall' runs hot and cold," Los Angeles Times, December 6, 2012](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-xpm-2012-dec-06-la-et-mn-deadfall-review-20121207-story.html)
14. [Matthew Sorrento and related crime-film scholarship, YorkSpace (snow noir cycle)](https://yorkspace.library.yorku.ca/server/api/core/bitstreams/37f798b2-5c00-4878-8635-e218c07a4e79/content)
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