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Jesse Plemons’s All-American Horror

The actor’s Civil War role exploits a talent he has honed for years: being the most terrifying presence onscreen.

What ensues is an agonizing sequence as his character, clad in paramilitary gear and a pair of red bro shades fit for Coachella, holds our protagonists captive alongside two other journalists from Hong Kong (Nelson Lee and Evan Lai). He’s an actor whose appearance onscreen, no matter how big or small, always makes me turn to the person next to me and whisper, “I love that guy.” He has this great open face, equally capable of fading into the background or snapping your attention into focus. That Plemons routinely plays men in positions of state power in his other screenwork — police officers ( American Made, Antlers), FBI agents ( Killers of the Flower Moon, Judas and the Black Messiah), lawyers ( The Post) — only adds to the menacing layers his image can evoke.

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