Death Sentence, released in theaters on August 31, 2007, is a brutal revenge thriller that pushes the boundaries between catharsis and consequence. Starring Kevin Bacon, Kelly Preston, Garrett Hedlund, John Goodman, and Aisha Tyler, the film transforms a common tragedy—senseless violence and a father’s grief—into a harrowing descent through cycles of retaliation and moral collapse.
Nick Hume (Bacon) is a mild-mannered insurance executive whose life is shattered when his beloved eldest son, Brendan, is murdered as part of a gang initiation at a local gas station.
When the justice system offers only a token sentence for the killer, Nick cannot abide the outcome.
During a pre-trial hearing, he deliberately sabotages the prosecution, allowing his son’s murderer, Joe Darley, to go free.
This decision is not a surrender but a calculated step: Nick hunts down Joe and kills him in cold blood, setting off a chain reaction of violent vengeance.
Joe’s brother Billy (Hedlund), the ruthless gang leader, vows payback.
The struggle quickly escalates beyond Nick’s control—his family becomes the new target, leading to a devastating home invasion that claims the life of his wife (Preston) and leaves his younger son gravely injured.
Driven past the brink, Nick arms himself with black market weapons, provided by the menacing Bones (John Goodman), and declares open war on the gang in a spiral of brutal confrontations.
James Wan’s direction (fresh off the Saw franchise) injects the film with relentless energy: high-octane chases, close-quarters combat, and a climactic shootout in an abandoned church cement it as a modern vigilante fable.
But beneath the shocking violence lies a cautionary portrait—each act of revenge dehumanizes Nick further, stripping away his middle-class identity until both cop and criminal see little difference between him and the men he hunts.
The supporting cast, especially Hedlund’s snarling Billy and Goodman’s oily Bones, fill out the film’s bleak moral universe.
Brian Garfield wrote the novel Death Sentence in 1975 as a sequel to his novel Death Wish after being unhappy with the film adaptation in 1974 starring Charles Bronson. The Death Wish sequels from Cannon Films were not adapted from Garfield’s sequel.
Kevin Bacon in Death Sentence (Photo/20th Century Fox)
Reception for Death Sentence
Death Sentence grossed $5.3 million on its opening weekend, finishing eighth at the box office.
The film would gross $17 million in its theatrical run.
Roger Ebert gave Death Sentence two and a half out of four stars in his review.
Legacy
Death Sentence has developed a cult following for its unflinching tone and raw performances, especially Bacon’s haunted, physical turn. Its legacy is a visceral meditation on the futility of revenge and the cost of justice denied—reminding viewers that violence, once unleashed, has no tidy endpoint.
