Quotes And Leadership Lessons From The Killer’s Game

A Reel Leadership Article

If you enjoy this article, you’ll love my book Reel Leadership. It’s available on Amazon.

What’s up, Reel Leaders? Welcome back to another edition of Reel Leadership. This is the time of the week when we look at a great movie and the leadership lessons it contains.

This week, our movie is The Killer’s Game. It’s a thrill ride that’s a lot of fun, especially if you like action movies.

Starring former wrestler Dave Bautista as hitman Joe Flood, it’s a story of misinformation and then revenge. Joe received a terminal diagnosis. He has Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD). This disease will slowly eat away at his motor skills until he dies.

Dave Bautista in The Killer's Game. Muscular man in a leather jacket looking down the scope of a riffle.

Joe puts a hit out on himself to make things easier on himself and his newfound love, Maize (Sofia Boutella). This way, he won’t rot away and die a painful death. He can ensure his death is quick.

Quotes And Leadership Lessons From Death Wish

A Reel Leadership Article

I’ve often wondered what I would do if I was ever put into a situation like Bryan Mills from Taken or, now, Dr. Paul Kersey (Bruce Willis) in the new Death Wish movie. Would I want to extract revenge for the pain brought upon me or the deaths I had to witness?

Bruce Willis in promotional image from Death Wish

As a man, these questions often flood my mind. And I love watching movies explore this thought process. Death Wish tells the story of Paul Kersey, a doctor whose job it was was to save lives. Only to have his wife brutally murdered and his daughter shot and left in a coma.

What would you do? That’s the question Death Wish gets you thinking about.

And, if you’re intentional, it’ll also get you to think about leadership.

Caution: Death Wish spoilers below.