Death Wish (2018) sticks to its revenge-thriller roots, focusing on personal loss and justice rather than identity politics. Characters, including the protagonist, are simply portrayed as people grappling with violence and grief, not as emblems of modern ideological battles. Any changes to character backgrounds or casting aren’t used to push a broader agenda. The film’s approach feels refreshingly direct and largely free from forced representation.

This remake unapologetically leans into traditional themes: masculinity, family, and personal responsibility. It certainly doesn’t ridicule or subvert religion, family, or classic gender roles, instead, it builds its emotional stakes around them. Some viewers might even say it’s a throwback to an era before movies started apologizing for portraying protective fathers and the nuclear family.

In Death Wish, alternative worldviews are present mostly through secondary characters like the police or talk radio hosts, offering a slight range of takes on vigilantism. There’s no overwhelming woke messaging, nor are dissenting voices dismissed as cartoonish villains. The film’s ideological environment is far from an echo chamber of modern moral assumptions.