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Review: A Burglar Breaks Into the Wrong House in ‘Bad Samaritan’

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By Glenn Kenny

• May 2, 2018

A young would-be photographer who’s supplementing his income via petty thievery breaks into the wrong house early in “Bad Samaritan.” One half of a team operating a valet-parking scam in Portland, Oregon, Sean (Robert Sheehan) thinks he’s struck gold after gaining entry to the home of the ultra-haughty Maserati-driving Cale Erendreich (David Tennant). Instead he finds what appears to be the lair of a serial killer — think a moneyed version of Buffalo Bill in “Silence of the Lambs.” He also finds one of Cale’s victims chained to a chair, and still alive.

A failure of moral nerve compels Sean to leave the scene, but guess what, he feels kind of bad about it. The intrusion drives Cale to go into supervillain mode, methodically destroying Sean’s life while continuing to toy with the woman he’s kidnapped.

The story line, not to mention the trappings of wealth, make the movie feel a bit like a tribute to the cheesy deluxe-house-of-guilty-mirrors thrillers of the ’80s and ’90s — “Jagged Edge,” “Fatal Attraction” and so on. The “Bad Samaritan” director, Dean Devlin, handles the proceedings like Adrian Lyne (who directed “Fatal Attraction”) on HGH supplements (and divested of over a third of Mr. Lyne’s visual elegance, such as it is).

Mr. Tennant, who usually is scrupulous in conveying the nuances of volatile characters (see his work on the British television series “Broadchurch” ), just goes utterly bananas here. Particularly in the last 15 minutes when, for reasons perhaps only fully known to himself, he attempts an impersonation of Steve Carell’s character on “The Office.”

Rated R for violence, language, a little drug use, a little nudity, and general bad vibes. Running time: 1 hour 50 minutes.

• Cast & crew
• User reviews

Bad Samaritan

A pair of burglars stumble upon a woman being held captive in a home they intended to rob. A pair of burglars stumble upon a woman being held captive in a home they intended to rob. A pair of burglars stumble upon a woman being held captive in a home they intended to rob.

• Dean Devlin
• Brandon Boyce
• David Tennant
• Robert Sheehan
• Kerry Condon
• 334 User reviews
• 93 Critic reviews
• 42 Metascore
• 1 nomination

Top cast 61

• Cale Erendreich

• Derek Sandoval

• Riley Seabrook
• FBI Agent Olivia Fuller

• (as Robert P. Nagle)
• Patty Falco

• Rowan Falco

• Detective Wayne Bannyon

• Helen Leyton

• Officer Aguilar

• FBI Supervisor
• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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Did you know

• Trivia The ring Sean gives his mother for her birthday is a Claddagh ring, a traditional Irish ring which represents love, loyalty, and friendship.
• Goofs Cale states that the paddle shift and that Sean shouldn't confuse it with his Granny's Vauxhall. Neither Cale as an American nor Sean as an Irishman would be familiar with Vauxhall's. Cale would call it a Saturn and Sean would call it an Opel.

Sean Falco : You... are fucking crazy! You know that... right?

Cale Erendreich : No... no... no. Because crazy people get caught.

• Connections Referenced in Midnight Screenings: Bad Samaritan (2018)
• Soundtracks We Like to Party Written by Jarrel Young , Waqaaz Hashmi (as Waqaas Hashmi) & John Sztrikacs Performed by Young Wolf Hatchlings Courtesy of FameCity Group Inc By arrangement with Cutting Edge Group

User reviews 334

• dave-mcclain
• May 5, 2018
• How long is Bad Samaritan? Powered by Alexa
• May 4, 2018 (United States)
• United States
• Tội Ác Trong Căn Nhà
• Portland, Oregon, USA
• Electric Entertainment
• Global Pictures Media
• See more company credits at IMDbPro
• May 6, 2018

Technical specs

• Runtime 1 hour 50 minutes

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Film Review: ‘Bad Samaritan’

A hustler tries to redeem himself by rescuing a kidnap victim in a potboiler that channels early-’90s Hollywood thrillers like 'The Silence of the Lambs.'

By Peter Debruge

Peter Debruge

Chief Film Critic

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A small-time scam artist (up-and-coming Irish actor Robert Sheehan , “Mute”) inadvertently stumbles upon a far more dangerous criminal (a sadistic serial killer played by ex-“Doctor Who” star David Tennant ), earning a chance to redeem himself in the catchy if somewhat nonsensically titled “Bad Samaritan.” The notion of a well-meaning sinner doing penance for past wrongs may as well extend to producer-turned-director Dean Devlin , who’s evidently using this potboiler to atone for last year’s disastrous “Geostorm” (in which Sheehan also appeared), delivering a down-and-dirty quickie that’s less ambitious in every sense yet ultimately far more effective as a piece of shamelessly manipulative, armrest-clutching genre entertainment.

Banking heavily on the unconventional, almost-androgynous looks of its blue-eyed, ringlet-haired leading man, “Bad Samaritan” expects audiences to identify with an opportunistic hustler — and talented amateur photographer — who uses a Portland restaurant’s valet parking service to break into rich folks’ homes while they dine. Sean (Sheehan) and partner in crime Derek (Carlito Olivero) are running a pretty simple scheme: They take your keys, then use your in-car GPS system to steer themselves back to your home, swiftly nicking whatever you won’t notice is gone and having the car back before you’ve finished dessert.

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According to the movie’s messed-up sense of morality, the duo only rob those rude, stuck-up jerks who treat them badly when pulling up to the restaurant (which is everyone, apparently), tapping into that simmering resentment that turned have-nots against the privileged 1% during the 2008 financial crisis. The movie doesn’t approve of this behavior per se, but it does take a certain gleeful thrill in the adrenaline rush of pulling off such a heist. Early on, Brandon Boyce’s screenplay (which follows a tight, B-movie template in the vein of David Koepp’s “Panic Room”) illustrates how Sean and Derek’s system works when a rich white family pulls up in a Range Rover, before efficiently shifting into more unpredictable territory when a far shadier character pulls up in his Maserati.

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Clearly relishing every second of his role as a skin-crawling super-creep, Tennant plays the worst-case version of a Patrick Bateman-esque sociopath — an insufferable trust-fund kid who has used his wealth to justify a lifetime of outside-the-law behavior. At first glimpse, wrapping up what sounds like a sketchy business call, Cale Erendreich (whose very name sounds like that of the Ivy League son of a Nazi war criminal) reminds of those condescending my-life-is-more-important-than-yours customers who approach the counter at the dry cleaner, Starbucks or Sprinkles without so much as hanging up the phone, making the world wait while they multitask their business.

He deserves to be burgled, the movie seems to suggest, taking illicit satisfaction as Sean races the Maserati back to the minimalistically furnished mansion just a few minutes away. After opening Erendreich’s mail and activating a newly arrived credit card from the stranger’s landline (such tricks are so literally reenacted, it feels as though screenwriter Boyce has adapted a click-bait article on identity theft), Sean uses his keys to go snooping through the rest of the house, where he finds a battered and chained young woman (Kerry Condon) held captive in a locked room upstairs. Lest anyone mistake this for a kinky sex game, in a private chamber adjoining the garage he discovers what looks like a set from the “Saw” movies, a home abattoir complete with gnarly, blood-spattered tools.

Needless to say, Sean freaks out, renouncing his breaking-and-entering shenanigans right then and there. But his transformation goes farther than that, as the young man declares himself personally responsible for saving Erendreich’s victim, whatever the cost. His accomplice Derek isn’t so sure that’s a good idea, but Sean is determined to risk his life to make things right, setting off a ridiculous but engaging showdown between this poor immigrant (who’s inexplicably Irish at a time when undocumented workers from other countries dominate the news) and a lunatic for whom money is no object, to the point that he’s willing to murder complete strangers and blow up his own home to get back at the young trespasser.

Veering dangerously close to torture porn in places, “Bad Samaritan” evokes urban myths about an upper class so entitled that it hunts or enslaves people for its own amusement. Aside from repeated flashbacks involving a wild horse, a gun, and an ambiguous murder, the movie offers precious little explanation for Erendreich’s proclivities, apart from the fact that they tie back to his childhood obsession with dressage. As one of the consistently ineffectual law enforcement officers puts it, “So now, instead of breaking horses, he breaks people,” as if anything could explain the elaborate series of bridles and shock collars he forces his victims to wear.

It’s all thoroughly unpleasant, but then, that’s what audiences for this kind of movie want from the experience, so consider it a success of sorts. When it comes to sick thrills, “Bad Samaritan” is nowhere near as horrible as “The Human Centipede,” harking back to such early-’90s thrillers as “The Silence of the Lambs,” “Cape Fear,” and “The Vanishing.” Apart from those attracted to the idea of seeing a “Doctor Who” star sink his teeth into such a role, the cast is virtually unrecognizable, but the production values are high, rendering its consistent suspense all the more unsettling by cinematographer David Connell’s cold, extreme-widescreen lensing. The movie implies that under different circumstances, Sean might be a gifted photographer, underscoring that both Devlin and his DP appear to be wasting their potential on such depraved material. One thing’s for sure: You won’t think of valeting your car the same way again.

Reviewed at Electric Entertainment screening room, Los Angeles, April 30, 2018. MPAA Rating: R. Running time: 110 MIN.

• Production: An Electric Entertainment release and presentation, in association with Global Pictures Media. Producers: Dean Devlin, Marc Roskin, Rachel Olschan-Wilson. Executive producers: Brandon Lambdin, Carsten H.W. Lorenz.
• Crew: Director: Dean Devlin. Screenplay: Brandon Boyce. Camera (color, widescreen): David Connell. Editor: Brian Gonosey. Music: Joseph LoDuca.
• With: Robert Sheehan, David Tennant, Kerry Condon , Jacqueline Byers, Carlito Olivero, Carsten Lorenz, Lisa Brenner, Rob Nagle, Austin Leo.

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Bad Samaritan Reviews

Bad Samaritan is the tale of an immigrant taking on a dangerous, out of touch, entitled, rich asshole. There's a dose of politically charged wish fulfillment in that, which makes an already fun movie even more of a blast.

Full Review | Dec 10, 2020

Bad Samaritan has all the cleverness of a shovel to the head.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/10 | Jul 18, 2020

No one gives a dull performance and the story is compelling enough to keep you hooked from beginning to end.

Full Review | Oct 29, 2019

It's not bad, it's just boring.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/10 | Oct 1, 2019

By devolving into unoriginal nonsense by the third act, the film is laid even lower by the fact that it actually had a lot going for it before completely falling apart.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.25/5 | Jul 20, 2019

This sincerely made thriller with an itty-bitty IQ will never be confused for "good," but it is fully immersive in its floundering failure.

Full Review | Original Score: C+ | Jun 18, 2019

The pretty standard and otherwise forgettable low-budget thriller has only the whacked-out performance by David Tenant going for it, but that's enough (he's worth it).

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | Mar 20, 2019

Tennant relishes the chance to deliver a heady blast of nostril-flaring villainy.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Feb 16, 2019

There is also a social dimension to their clash, with Cale, heir to a vast family fortune, breaking into the life of working-class Sean much as Sean broke into his, only with an added, overt sense of entitlement and superiority.

Full Review | Dec 13, 2018

A machine built for screaming speed and excitement that only ever just cruises through the suburbs at half speed.

Full Review | Nov 27, 2018

I think it's meant to be hysterical. I hope so, anyway, because I laughed a lot.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Aug 30, 2018

A tight little film which does a good job of living up to its bold premise, Bad Samaritan makes occasional slips but delivers, overall, a solid two hours of entertainment.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 27, 2018

Dean Devlin finally steps out from Roland Emmerich's shadow with a tight, twisty little thriller.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Aug 27, 2018

The more ridiculous the film gets, the more entertaining it becomes.

Full Review | Aug 26, 2018

The debut director Dean Devlin clearly has Hitchcockian pretensions, even if the sleazy thrills he offers lunge closer towards torture porn.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Aug 24, 2018

What is David Tennant doing in this fantastically charmless and unpleasant film?

Full Review | Original Score: 1/5 | Aug 24, 2018

[Bad Samaritan] ties on the odd scare and builds the thief's character better than the serial killer. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Aug 23, 2018

Filmmaker Dean Devlin assembles the movie with gritty, sleek style, offering just enough character development to hook the audience before things turn viciously over the top. And also rather silly.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Aug 22, 2018

Devlin's directing takes the paint-by-numbers approach with nothing new to offer.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/10 | Aug 20, 2018

It will never go down as one of the best suspense films, but it will entertain those looking for a little thrill. [Full Review in Spanish]

Full Review | Original Score: 6.6/10 | Aug 15, 2018

Review: Tech-smart thriller ‘Bad Samaritan’ mines modern-day paranoia for chills

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“Geostorm” director Dean Devlin helms the outrageous horror/thriller “Bad Samaritan,” starring David Tennant, with a humdinger of a script by Brandon Boyce that takes the popular parable and reverse engineers the story from there. This is an audaciously wacky film, and the filmmakers manage to get a few things just right.

Irish actor Robert Sheehan co-stars as Sean, a plucky amateur photographer who moonlights as a restaurant valet, making even more money committing petty theft, thanks to the keys and GPS systems patrons so willingly hand over. One night, he and his friend Derek (Carlito Olivero) think they’ve hit the jackpot when they park the sports car of wealthy jerk Cale (Tennant). At their new mark’s home, Sean discovers a woman, Katie (Kerry Condon), bridled and chained to a chair (perfectly in line with the house’s ostentatious horse decor).

Here’s where the good/bad Samaritan duality comes into play. Sean may be a thief, but he’s got a titanium moral compass. He tries to save Katie with a set of bolt cutters, but he’s foiled by Cale’s mastery of his technologically advanced smart house. Sean reports the incident to the police, the FBI, anyone he thinks might listen, even while he’s being stalked, threatened and violated by his persecutor, Cale, who embodies the bad Samaritan side of the equation.

The movie is just so crazy, ripping along at a nonstop pace, that you don’t realize until halfway through that it’s actually quite competently made. The filmmaking itself is suspenseful, classic horror filmmaking, with plenty of jump scares and ominous camera movements. But where the film succeeds most is in its realistic use of technology.

Billionaire Cale may have a smart house he’s weaponized via a few apps on his phone, surveillance cameras and lights, but Sean’s got an iPhone, and he knows how to use it. Part of what makes “Bad Samaritan” zip along so well is Sean’s constant prattling into his phone, conveniently tucked into a front pocket, usually to Derek as they pull heists. It gives the scenes, even when Sean is alone, dynamism and dialogue. And although Cale might have the money and the more advanced gear, Sean is quick on his feet, snapping FaceTime screenshots or using his camera as a periscope. It works because we understand how it works, and it feels natural.

The use of technology also drives the scares in this film. “Girl-in-a-dungeon” films are a dime a dozen, a trope that would be tired and exploitative if this horrific occurrence didn’t also regularly pop up in the news. The fetishistic horse business is merely a weird aesthetic choice that’s explained away with a bit of perfunctory psychobabble.

But valets using GPS to rob houses? Miniature magnetic trackers? A psycho who steals your password and sends nude photos of your girlfriend to all of her Facebook friends? That’s the stuff that really chills to the bone. “Bad Samaritan” understands technology and the way that it’s woven into our everyday lives as extensions of our bodies, weapons that can be used for or against us. At the end of the day, what we come to understand is that the only thing that can stop a bad Samaritan with a smartphone is a good Samaritan with a smartphone.

-------------

‘Bad Samaritan’

Rating: R, for violence, language throughout, some drug use and brief nudity

Running time: 1 hour, 50 minutes

Playing: In general release

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Review: 'bad samaritan' is dean devlin's best movie by default.

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Okay, this is a pretty brilliant bit of wordplay.

While he was the screenwriter and producing partner for director Roland Emmerich , Dean Devlin was regular attached to $100 million hits, and in the case of their master-triumph, Independence Day , over $300 million. Since they've gone their separate ways, however, Emmerich has continued to make big and crazy hits, while Devlin has floundered: his big-screen feature directorial debut, Geostorm , was a dud with just a $33 million domestic gross on a $120 million budget, and while some critics embraced it as Sharknado -style camp, most (correctly) did not . Emmerich is the one whose stories jettison logic where convenient; he usually knows he's making all sizzle and no steak. Devlin, on the other hand, can't take his own half-baked cliches unseriously; he's like a McDonald's cook convinced he's searing up a ribeye, and Emmerich's body of work has been more enjoyably junkfood-preposterous since they split.

Devlin's follow-up, Bad Samaritan , clearly made on an exponentially smaller budget than Geostorm , is still a movie that feels like it wants to earn your respect. Amazingly, it has won some of mine: this one shows marked improvement for Devlin as director (perhaps notably, he did not write it; Apt Pupil 's Brandon Boyce did) and is by default his best film, though that still makes it a solid B-minus. What's frustrating here is the same dissatisfaction I feel in many of the movies Devlin himself has written--when it's good, I can still think of ways it could be even better. But that shouldn't take way from the fact that it is at least good, most of the time.

It starts with a solid hook: valet parkers Sean (Robert Sheehan) and Derek (Carlito Olivero) make money on the side by finding customers' personal information in their cars, then driving to their homes and burglarizing them while they eat at the restaurant where they thought their parking was being taken care of. Inevitably, the night they target a super-rich jerk named Cale (David Tennant) in a really expensive car, he turns out to be a serial killer--with the latest victim still alive and chained up in his home office.

If you liked (assuming "like" is the right word) Tennant as the meticulous rapist Kilgrave on Netflix's Jessica Jones , you can rest assured Devlin did too; once again, the man who was so lovable on Doctor Who has become a stone cold ass whose face you just can't wait to see punched when the time is right. If, heaven forbid, Lionsgate ever decides to make Saw prequels of Jigsaw as a young man, Tennant would fit the bill--there's something of a junior Tobin Bell to his portrayal of this OCD trust-fund baby whose tantrums can kill. And there's vague political subtext in the premise that our protagonist Sean is an immigrant (Irish) vulnerable to possible deportation (though not really if you actually look at the plot logic), while the villain is a man so convinced his wealth will protect him that he could be caught red-handed and not convicted, since facts are what he says they are.

Devlin effectively builds tension in individual sequences where Sean must evade and escape Cale, but he doesn't build them into something. Once Sean escapes the situation at hand, that's it for the moment, until we get a signal that the next one has started. There ought to be a slow build that just gets bigger and bigger, and truly takes away everything Sean has in the face of evil. As is, he's rarely without at least one ally at any given time, and when Cale actually hacks into his passwords to get the power to ruin Sean's life, he...breaks him up with his girlfriend on Facebook, and gets his parents fired. Like, really, bad guy? Your plan should be better than that of the computer from Electric Dreams.  There is a funny moment late in the game when Sean is actively chastised for being a bad hero, and it's the most self-aware the movie ever gets. We never believe only he can save himself, and are conditioned to wait for back-up or a plot escape hatch every time. When you want the tension to ratchet up, it just yo-yos.

Given another draft of the script, or maybe a re-edit, this could have had surprise hit potential. As is, it's still a surprise step-up for the director, who has managed to make a thriller that's mostly enjoyable throughout. For a first attempt at this kind of material, it evinces solid potential that just needs a lesson in pacing. There's room left for a sequel...and to be honest, I'd be happy to give one a shot.  But with Thanos out to kill him some superheroes still, Kilgrave aiming for smaller body counts just isn't going to cut into that box office much.

One final, minor critique: the title isn't good. It was originally named No Good Deed , which is mildly better but still not great. Is Cale the bad Samaritan, or is Sean? Both start from a place of selfishness; Sean then risks everything to save someone he hardly knows, making him, if anything, a good Samaritan in the end. And the phrase is "no good deed goes unpunished," which certainly ties in to Sean's Irishness ("Murphy's Law" and the originally sarcastic "luck of the Irish" being turns of phrase inspired by auld Eire) but not really to the actions of anyone onscreen. Plus if you want to turn this into a franchise, the title should really describe the bad guy a bit better.

Moot point now, but it needed to be said.

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Bad Samaritan Review

30 Mar 2018

Bad Samaritan

After a quarter century as writer and/or producer partner for Roland Emmerich’s bombastic blockbusters, including Independence Day and The Day After Tomorrow , Dean Devlin’s directorial debut, last year’s Geostorm , became Hollywood’s equivalent of an extreme weather event, buffeted by reshoots, delays, the ignominy of being replaced. Thankfully, he’s bounced back with an engaging, well-acted and crisply directed thriller anchored by two highly watchable performances.

Parking valets Sean ( Misfits ’ Sheehan, who’ll soon be seen as Tom in Mortal Engines ) and Derek (Carlito Olivero) have a seedy little racket going: while their customers dine out at a Portland restaurant, they drive their valet-parked cars to their homes (sat nav helpfully providing directions) and rob them, returning the cars to their unwitting owners before dessert is served. Breaking into the home of rich douchebag Cale (Tennant), Sean stumbles upon a grisly scene: a woman (Condon, the voice in Tony Stark’s suit) chained in a filthy dungeon, next to what looks suspiciously like a fully prepped kill room. Unable to free her right away, Sean hatches a plan to rescue her, unaware that Cale, who’s both intelligent and unhinged, knows all about his intruder, and is about to start turning the screws on him and his loved ones.

It’s a mouth-watering premise, and Sheehan is terrific as the bungling burglar whose life comes crashing around his ears, his unsuitability as a hero making him more sympathetic and relatable. Tennant, for his part, attacks the role of Cale with even more sadistic relish than he managed as Kilgrave in Jessica Jones — although his Ameerrrican accent still needs work. Both are well served by a tricksy, twisty script, and Devlin manages to keep all the moving parts working smoothly, proving that good actors and a decent script are the only special effects he needs. His only misstep is arguably Joseph LoDuca’s overblown score, which feels more suited to a Devlin/Emmerich blockbuster, and has a tendency to drown entire scenes in bombast.

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‘Bad Samaritan’ Film Review: Thief vs. Serial Killer Tale Lacks Excitement

The problem with “high-concept” movies is that eventually they have to move beyond that concept and tell a whole, satisfying story. It’s harder than it sounds. Just take a look at “Bad Samaritan,” a film about a thief who breaks into the house of a serial killer. He doesn’t know what to do next, and neither does the movie.

Robert Sheehan (“Geostorm”) stars as Sean, a photographer with a wonderful girlfriend, Riley (Jacqueline Byers, “Salvation”), who makes ends meet with a clever little scam: Sean and his best friend Derek (Carlito Olivero, “Step Up: High Water”) work as valets at an expensive Italian restaurant, and while the customers are eating, they drive their cars home and rob them.

It’s a smart idea for a crime wave, especially since they steal only small items which are unlikely to be missed. That alone makes them miles smarter than the valet thieves from Eli Roth’s “Death Wish.” (What did valets do to collectively tick off Hollywood screenwriters lately?)

Also Read: David Tennant Joins Jennifer Garner on Lena Dunham HBO Series 'Camping'

But when Sean breaks into the house of a wealthy a-hole named Cale Erendreich (David Tennant), he’s shocked to discover that Cale has a young woman named Katie (Kerry Condon, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”) chained up inside a room lined with plastic. That, combined with the creepy white room of many, many knives, convinces Sean that he has broken into the home of a serial killer. Worse yet, Sean only has a few minutes before the madman needs his car back.

Again, “Bad Samaritan” is a very clever set-up for a thriller, in which our hero is moral only in comparison to the villain, and in which his past mistakes precludes him from doing the right thing, the right way. It’s been done before of course, in films like “Beneath the Darkness,” “The Collector” and “Don’t Breathe,” but a good idea is a good idea. All it needs is a wily execution.

So it’s a shame, especially in a film about a serial killer, that “Bad Samaritan” has so little finesse. It starts strong, with some unexpected shocks and “What would you do in this situation?” suspense sequences, but as soon as Sean leaves Cale’s house, the movie loses all momentum and never gains it back.

Also Read: Elisabeth Moss, David Tennant Drama 'Mad to Be Normal' Picked Up by Samuel Goldwyn Films

The problem is that, since Cale quickly realizes his inner sanctum has been invaded and just as quickly covers his tracks, Sean is forced to flat-out tell the cops right away what happened , thus exhausting almost every tool in the movie’s arsenal. Watching a panicky young thief try to think his way out of immediate danger is exciting. The film even earns itself a Mulligan, when Derek asks why Sean didn’t just hand Katie the phone when he had the chance, and Sean admits he was too freaked out to be clever. It’s easy to judge a movie for that kind of oversight, but just this once, we might be willing to forgive Sean (especially since “Bad Samaritan” would be over immediately if he actually had thought of that).

In contrast, watching a guilt-ridden young schmuck freak out for half the movie because he’s out of ideas isn’t terribly cinematic. What’s worse, when Cale turns the tables on Sean and starts stalking him, Cale’s machinations are so banal they rarely escalate above trolling. In real life it may be disturbing to find out that someone stole your Facebook password and sabotaged your relationship with your girlfriend, but when that person is a serial killer, who we’ve already seen do infinitely more terrifying things, it just comes across as a serious dramatic letdown.

Dean Devlin previously directed the ludicrous but entertaining disaster thriller “Geostorm,” and although the genre may have changed, he’s once again working with pulpy airplane-novel material. Perhaps the biggest issue is that Devlin doesn’t seem to be having as much fun this time around. He’s got a story that playfully subverts audience expectation, and he sure seems to love his over-the-top dramatic reveals of Cale’s various victims. But “Bad Samaritan” plays out with all the somber determination of a plausible drama, and after a while the plot is simply too absurd to be taken that seriously.

Watch Video: David Tennant Roasts Donald Trump Over Brexit Comments

The cast of “Bad Samaritan” is trapped in this material, and for the most part their only responsibility is to justify the next plot point rather than crafting interesting characters. As Sean, Sheehan gets to wallow in his guilt, and it’s refreshing to see a protagonist in this type of thriller admit his sins early on, so we can regain our rooting interest in him quickly. But that’s just one note, and he’s expected to play it for most of the film.

Meanwhile, Tennant is asked to snarl it up as a serial killer whose modus operandi has nothing to do with the rest of the movie. He’s obsessive-compulsive and has a thing for horses, and the more you learn about who he is and why he does what he does, the more you get the impression that the index card for his character simply read “SERIAL KILLER WITH GIMMICK,” and that no particular care was given to tie his behavior into the protagonist’s journey. And when there’s no cohesive theme to a story like this, it all becomes — to quote Homer Simpson — “just a bunch of stuff that happened.”

Granted, it’s a somewhat entertaining bunch of stuff. A few of the jump scares are expertly crafted, and Condon gets a climactic line of dialogue which might end up being one of the best of the year. But a few sharp moments can’t compensate for a film that feels half-developed and only half-heartedly told. Like its protagonist, “Bad Samaritan” isn’t quite as bad as it could have been, but it’s not good either.

Related stories from TheWrap:

Dean Devlin's Electric Entertainment Closes $20 Million Production Credit

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Bad samaritan.

• Common Sense Says
• Parents Say 0 Reviews
• Kids Say 2 Reviews

Common Sense Media Review

Interesting characters, situations in violent thriller.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Bad Samaritan is a violent thriller about a burglar (Robert Sheehan) who tries to rescue a woman who's been kidnapped by a psychopath (David Tennant). There's a brief scene of a man beating up a woman, as well as scenes that show a woman held prisoner, with bruises, cuts, and…

Why Age 17+?

Young woman imprisoned, locked to a chair, gagged; she's covered in bruises,

A young woman briefly shows her breast. Kissing. Sex talk. A naked woman is cove

Very strong language throughout, including many uses of "f--k" and &qu

Two young men smoke pot in one scene. Adults drink beer at home.

Victoria's Secret and Maserati mentioned. Huge Red Bull poster.

Any Positive Content?

Conjures up a very interesting "what would you do?" situation in which

Main character is a burglar who gives in to a moment of cowardice, but otherwise

Violence & Scariness

Young woman imprisoned, locked to a chair, gagged; she's covered in bruises, cuts, welts. Another woman brutally mugged and thrown down stairs. A woman is fitted with an electrical zapping neck band. Guns and shooting. Characters shot and killed, with bloody wounds and pools of blood shown. Beatings with baseball bat, shovel, axe handle. Lots of dead bodies in a mass grave. Sounds of horse-whipping, screaming. Brief fighting/punching. Character nearly hit by moving car; dodges it.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

A young woman briefly shows her breast. Kissing. Sex talk. A naked woman is covered by a towel and then drops the towel; side of her breast is shown briefly. Some sensual apparel/lingerie.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Very strong language throughout, including many uses of "f--k" and "s--t," plus "pr--k," "t-tties," "a--hole," "ass," "bitch," "goddamn," "piss," "boobs," "arsehole," "ho," and "Jesus" and "Christ" (as exclamations).

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

Positive messages.

Conjures up a very interesting "what would you do?" situation in which a person must decide whether to risk his own relative security to help someone who's in more danger. Movie doesn't make the decision easy, presents the issues in fascinating shades of gray that should make good discussion.

Positive Role Models

Main character is a burglar who gives in to a moment of cowardice, but otherwise, afterward, he's shown energetically trying to do the right thing and trying to repair his mistakes. He's shown to be kind to women (unlike the movie's villain). Some diversity in supporting cast.

Parents need to know that Bad Samaritan is a violent thriller about a burglar ( Robert Sheehan ) who tries to rescue a woman who's been kidnapped by a psychopath ( David Tennant ). There's a brief scene of a man beating up a woman, as well as scenes that show a woman held prisoner, with bruises, cuts, and welts. Viewers will see plenty of blood: Characters use guns, and some are shot and killed. Dead bodies fill up a mass grave, and characters are beaten with baseball bats, axe handles, and shovels. An unsettling flashback uses sounds to indicate a boy killing a horse. In addition to the violence, a woman's naked breast is shown, and there's kissing and some sex talk. And language is strong throughout, with frequent use of both "f--k" and "s--t." Young men smoke pot, and adults drink beer. It's not exactly original, but it's well-made and gets by on fine characters and performances. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

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Parent and Kid Reviews

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• Kids say (2)

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What's the Story?

In BAD SAMARITAN, Sean Falco ( Robert Sheehan ) and his pal Derek (Carlito Olivero) run a small-time burglary scheme, posing as valet parkers and using GPS and garage door openers in the cars to gain access to homes. In the house of one particularly nasty customer, Cale Erendreich ( David Tennant ), Sean is horrified to discover a girl ( Kerry Condon ) who's been brutally beaten and locked to a chair. He tries to rescue her, but when Erendreich returns, Sean panics and leaves. Tormented by this decision, he makes several attempts to rescue the girl -- i.e., calling the police -- but no one believes him, and the sadistically clever Erendreich is very good at allaying suspicion. Worse, Erendreich begins tormenting Sean; Sean's girlfriend, Riley (Jacqueline Byers); and his family, making fake posts on social media and causing other havoc. When Riley is attacked, Sean realizes he must end this, one way or another.

Is It Any Good?

The idea behind this thriller isn't terribly fresh or original, but it works well enough thanks to Sheehan's relatable, believable, flawed hero and Tennant's terrifying psychopath. Director Dean Devlin , previously a screenwriter on Independence Day and the director of Geostorm , scales back from gargantuan, cosmic destruction in Bad Samaritan in favor of creating a realistic situation with its own history and nuances. The places and relationships in Bad Samaritan feel genuine. Despite Sean's career as a burglar and his panicked hesitation to help a person in jeopardy, he earns our trust back with his feverish attempts to right his wrong, as well as his background as a talented photographer who's wary of "selling out."

Tennant's performance is reminiscent of his work as the nasty Kilgrave on Jessica Jones ; he brings a disconcerting level of class, education, and breeding to the vicious Erendreich -- he just makes your skin crawl. Written by Brandon Boyce ( Apt Pupil , Wicker Park ) in the vein of many 1990s thrillers, Bad Samaritan does occasionally make an aggravating mistake: Erendreich is too all-knowing, as if he's able to read minds or see everything at once. A great villain needs to have flaws, too, and most of the time, this one is just too perfect. Perhaps that could have been tightened up if Bad Samaritan hadn't been allowed to go on for 110 minutes -- but these quibbles ultimately don't dampen the movie's overall tense effect.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about Bad Samaritan 's violence . Is it meant to be thrilling or shocking? How can you tell? What's the impact of media violence on kids?

How does the main character treat women, as opposed to the way the villain treats women? What do you think the movie is trying to say through that comparison?

How do you feel about Sean, given that he's a burglar and he succumbed to a moment of serious cowardice? Is he still relatable? Why?

Movie Details

• In theaters : May 4, 2018
• On DVD or streaming : August 14, 2018
• Cast : Robert Sheehan , Kerry Condon , David Tennant
• Director : Dean Devlin
• Inclusion Information : Female actors
• Studio : Electric Entertainment
• Genre : Thriller
• Run time : 110 minutes
• MPAA rating : R
• MPAA explanation : violence, language throughout, some drug use and brief nudity
• Last updated : March 31, 2022

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Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

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Flickering Myth

Geek Culture | Movies, TV, Comic Books & Video Games

Movie Review – Bad Samaritan (2018)

May 2, 2018 by Martin Carr

Bad Samaritan , 2018.

Directed by Dean Devlin. Starring David Tennant, Kerry Condon, Robert Sheehan, Jacqueline Byers, Lisa Brenner, and Hannah Barefoot.

Two part-time valet attendants spend their time robbing unsuspecting customers whilst they are busy eating dinner. One night this slick operation comes unstuck when a local businessman pulls up in his Maserati.

Upon first inspection the subject matter and creative force behind this dark and edgy thriller raise questions. Director, writer and producer Dean Devlin established himself in the mid Nineties collaborating with director Roland Emmerich on tent pole movies including Independence Day , Stargate and Godzilla . From then on his projects either theatrically or otherwise have been both entertaining and primarily mainstream. His latest directorial effort however is the equivalent of casting against type, being both inherently dark, morally ambiguous and cinematically challenging.

This might seem like a by the numbers thriller but screenwriter Brandon Boyce is asking us some interesting questions beneath the surface. Issues of nature versus nurture, karmic backlash and moral choices are all addressed within this slick piece of cinema. Set up and concisely drawn within fifteen minutes Bad Samaritan provides backstory, establishes tone and then smartly deviates from expectations. In order for that to work effectively Dean Devlin needed a very specific type of actor.

Bringing in both David Tennant and Robert Sheehan is ultimately what makes Bad Samaritan work so well. They share minimal screen time but each one engages with the audience and brings something different to potentially two-dimensional roles. Of the two Tennant does much of the heavy lifting and seems to revel in breathing life into Cale Erendreich. Emotionally detached, independently wealthy, single-minded and meticulous Tennant manages to make this character human. Boyce’s set up is good and Erendreich carries shades of Patrick Bateman, while Bad Samaritan itself drifts towards American Psycho and into Eli Roth territory. However Devlin is sensible enough to remain on the right side of this line.

Themes of power either over others through circumstance, situation or information are central to Bad Samaritan , while any darker elements are purposely desexualised. If anything my only criticism is that the screenplay becomes formulaic and to tidy too quickly. Great character work is undermined by convenient tech knowledge, thinly drawn supporting roles beyond Sheehan and Tennant while any atmosphere is diminished by predictability. It would have been nice to explore and expand on invasion of privacy issues, those truncated police procedural elements and telegraphed third act.

Dean Devlin can clearly direct punchy character moments and is adept at building tension with the right material, but Bad Samaritan feels like a wasted opportunity. Tennant and Sheehan elevate this film above the conventional but remain hamstrung by stereotypes and formulaic demands.

SEE ALSO: Read our interview with Bad Samaritan director Dean Devlin here

Flickering Myth Rating  – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★

Martin Carr

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Bad Samaritan (United States, 2018)

For roughly two-thirds of its running length, Bad Samaritan shows potential as a nicely twisty thriller replete with Hitchcockian elements. Making full use of current-day technology (without slipping over the line into science fiction), Bad Samaritan includes GPS tracking, smart houses, smart cars, cellphones, and hacked social media accounts. By showing how a killer can cause devastation virtually as well as physically, the film enters territory that hasn’t yet become overfamiliar. Unfortunately, starting with what I’ll call “the big bang,” Bad Samaritan ’s credibility overreaches and the string of ensuing thriller clichés result in a lackluster conclusion. This is yet another chapter in “When Smart Movies Turn Dumb.”

Bad Samaritan opens with a conceit that may cause viewers to think twice about using valet parking. Sean (Robert Sheehan) and his buddy Derek (Carlito Olivero) work outside an upscale Italian restaurant parking cars. Except, instead of dutifully stowing and fetching, the friends use the vehicles as gateways to easy thefts. By accessing a home address via the navigation system, they can drive to the owner’s house, use the garage door opener in the car, and commit the robbery – all while the family is enjoying their dinner. When Sean uses this scam with the Maserati of the arrogant, unfriendly Cale Erendreich (David Tennant), he thinks he has struck the mother lode. However, when entering a locked office, Sean discovers not only Cale’s computer but a young woman (Kerry Condon) who has been badly beaten and chained up using bondage gear that makes Christian Grey’s stuff look like kindergarten toys. Before he’s able to release the woman, Sean is forced to flee to return the car. Haunted by what he left behind, he places an anonymous call to the police, but Cale has already taken steps to prevent discovery. After that, the creepy sociopath uncovers his intruder’s identity and begins a systematic program to destroy Sean’s life and that of everyone close to him.

Bad Samaritan wasn’t accorded the widest distribution or the best exposure so the distributor (Electric Entertainment) is probably positioning it primarily for the home video market. With lowered expectations, at least insofar as the ending is concerned, this should play well on TVs and handheld devices. Devlin has skill when it comes to atmosphere (the way he films Portland, Oregon creates a unique setting in place of the generic location where many contemporary movies transpire), generates sustained tension, and jolts the audience with the occasional jump-scare. Bad Samaritan ’s Achilles Heel is common to many thrillers – it deserves a better resolution than the one it has.

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Bad Samaritan

David Tennant gets nasty in this slice of entertaining home-invasion tosh.

Time Out says

This, from nonsense-monger Dean Devlin (director of ‘Geostorm’, producer of ‘Independence Day’ and the 1998 ‘Godzilla’), is the cinematic equivalent of an airport novel. It’s absolute trash and you’re unlikely to ever return to it once it’s done, but, God, it’s highly entertaining and its daftness is a large part of its appeal.

Robert Sheehan plays Sean Falco, a petty criminal who, along with his best friend (Carlito Olivero), has a scam going as a parking valet at a high-end restaurant. Once they have the customer’s keys, they drive the car to the owner’s home and rob them. When one particularly obnoxious customer, Cale (David Tennant), shows up in a very swanky car, Sean relishes the opportunity to burgle him. However, poking around Cale’s house, Sean finds something horrifying: a woman (Kerry Condon), bloodied and chained to a chair. If he frees her, Cale will come after him. If he leaves her, he knows she’ll die.

The game of cat-and-mouse as Sean tries to best Cale is high on tension and schlocky scares, even as it barrels through gigantic plot holes and spirals into absurdity. Tennant skirts the edge of pantomime, thrillingly, as a sleek psychopath, screaming and hissing his way through his convoluted plans, which are all a good 60 percent more elaborate than necessary. Sheehan reminds you just how strong a leading man he can be: he does Man on the Edge very well. By its conclusion, ‘Bad Samaritan’ is laughably silly, but no less fun for that. 

Release Details

• Release date: Friday 24 August 2018
• Duration: 107 mins

Cast and crew

• Director: Dean Devlin
• Screenwriter: Brandon Boyce
• Robert Sheehan
• Kerry Condon
• David Tennant

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‘bad samaritan’: film review.

No good deed, or viewer, goes unpunished in Dean Devlin’s ridiculous serial killer thriller 'Bad Samaritan.'

By Keith Uhlich

Keith Uhlich

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How, indeed, do you follow up  Geostorm ? If you’re Dean Devlin , you take one of the lesser-known castmembers of that disastrous 2017 disaster movie (from which Devlin was removed during reshoots ), abscond to Portland, Oregon — “my home away from home” per his press notes director’s statement — with a dreckish screenplay by Brandon Boyce ( Apt Pupil ) and make a low-budget serial killer thriller so ludicrous and imbecilic that it’s almost charming. Almost.

Irish actor Robert Sheehan plays Sean Falco, a restaurant valet to most people’s eyes and a petty thief in actuality. Whenever a clearly well-to-do customer drives up, he and his professional partner, Derek Sandoval ( Carlito Olivero ), put on their small-time-crooks caps. One of them stands guard as their target eats dinner while the other hops in the patron’s vehicle, locates their home address through GPS, and robs the abode of easy-to-carry valuables. 

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Release date: May 03, 2018

It’s a living! But when douchenozzle extraordinaire Cale Erendreich ( David Tennant ) revs up in a flashy Maserati, Sean and Derek see a potentially more lucrative gig. Perhaps one to retire on. Small hitch: As Sean is searching Cale’s house, he discovers a woman, Katie (Kerry Condon), bound, gagged and bloodied. Suddenly, this bush-league criminal’s moral code kicks in; of course an abducted person’s life is worth more than stolen gold knick-knacks. Yet getting her free proves to be tougher than it seems, especially after Cale discovers that Sean is onto his cutthroat activities, of which this is not an isolated case. 

Obstacles are legion, be it the high-tech surveillance in Cale’s building that’s controlled by remote app, or the fact that Sean’s lawless pursuits severely lessen his credibility with local authorities. But the biggest obstruction might be Cale himself with his bug-eyed stare of death, his uncanny ability to be seemingly everywhere at once and his infantile psycho-tantrums, which are rooted (as a hilarious, twice-repeated flashback reveals) in a childhood trauma involving an untamed horse.

Tennant is awful, by which I mean wonderful, by which I mean truly terrible, yet in a legitimately magnificent way … I think. This is a  you-can’t-kill-THAT-performance!  par excellence, beginning at peak nutball and staying breathlessly atop the trash heap. There’s a scene in which Cale sneaks into Sean’s apartment while he’s showering and aims a gun at his unaware prey. Tennant is all skulky glower — he could be Hannibal Lecter’s distant cousin — until he suddenly defuses the tension by emphatically  not  shooting his weapon. “Poom !” he says, mock-firing a bullet while dismissively arcing his arm like a snooty girl in ballet class. He can’t take any of this seriously, and he’s having a ball of a time doing it.

There are worse things than watching a former Doctor Who slumming it with such relish. (At his shoutiest , Tennant seems like he’s been possessed by that long-running sci-fi series’ maniacal big bad, Davros .) The rest of the cast can barely keep up with his insanity, though that doesn’t prevent Sheehan from turning on the little-hipster-lost charm, or Condon from valiantly attempting to lend shades to her woman in perpetual peril. Sadly, none of the performers’ efforts put over the cliched machinations in Boyce’s screenplay, the stupidest of which might be nicknamed “Chekhov’s bolt cutter.” 

Should you find yourself in front of  Bad Samaritan  (and that could only ever be by force or out of sheer masochism) ,  just sit back and revel in the verdant Portland scenery or marvel at the ill-fitting orchestral score by Joseph Loduca , who apparently thinks he’s composing for a Devlin super-production past like  Stargate   or  Independence Day — both lost Da Vincis in comparison to this dross.   Get to the end and you might even find yourself pining for  Godzilla  ’98. Perish that  thought.

Production company-distributor: Electric Entertainment Cast:  David Tennant, Robert Sheehan, Carlito Olivero , Kerry Condon, Jacqueline Byers Director:  Dean Devlin Writer: Brandon Boyce Producers:  Dean Devlin, Rachel Olschan-Wilson , Marc Roskin Executive producers: Brandon Lambdin , Carsten H.W. Lorenz Director of photography: David Connell Editor: Brian Gonosey Music: Joseph Loduca

Rated R, 107 minutes

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The Paragon

The Paragon (Doppelganger Releasing)

Zephyr-light and plenty zany, Michael Duignan’s “The Paragon” serves up space-time shenanigans with a smile on its face, in a manner quaintly reminiscent of sci-fi and fantasy B-movies from a bygone era—think “Krull,” “Flash Gordon,” and “Masters of the Universe”—when stilted action sequences, preposterous plots, and kitschy costume design added up to mad spectacles of cheesy, cornball grandeur.

“The Paragon” may be Duignan’s feature debut, but he’s well-established in the New Zealand industry scene, having directed local television, commercials, documentaries, music videos, and more. Known for helming episodes of “Power Rangers,” he translates some of that series’ goofy, intergalactic flavor into his own film, which he also wrote, shot, edited, and produced. 

Set in Auckland, his no-budget production is nostalgic not only for the sub-juvenile space operatics of yesteryear but also the scrappy DIY sensibility of those cult classics; when the film made its North American premiere in Montreal this summer at Fantasia, much of the festival fanfare revolved around its $25,000 budget. (That’s in New Zealand dollars, mind you; it’s closer to $15,000 in U.S. currency.) Notably, not adjusted for inflation, that’s the same initial cost of “Bad Taste,” Peter Jackson’s splattery first feature, though the New Zealand Film Commission ultimately invested nearly ten times that amount to get Jackson’s film completed, a luxury Duignan didn’t have.

In raising funds from friends and family, then shooting “The Paragon” in two weeks so as not to ask too much of anyone involved, Duignan makes his relative lack of resources foundational to the film’s farcical tone, relying on conspicuously handmade effects and cheesily psychedelic costume design to ground all his script’s sci-fi gobbledygook in scrappily practical textures and tones. In doing so, Duignan also steeps the proceedings in a cheerfully understated, sometimes self-effacing comic sensibility that will be familiar to fans of Kiwi comedy legend John Clarke — one in which unapologetically earnest silliness can be felt lurking beneath every deadpan delivery. 

At the center of “The Paragon” is Dutch (Benedict Wall), a former tennis champion who hasn’t moved on with his life since the hit-and-run that ended his career a year earlier; the incident left him dead for six minutes until a good samaritan resuscitated him, but Dutch is arguably more vexed by the fact he still can’t walk unsupported, and this lingering resentment has driven more of a wedge between him and his wife (Jessica Grace Smith) than the injury. 

Obsessed with tracking down the silver Toyota Corolla that struck him so that he can exact some flimsy revenge scheme, Dutch enlists hooded psychic Lyra (Florence Noble) to help him master telelocation, also known as the power to locate objects. It’s one psionic ability in Lyra’s arsenal, with precognition, telepathy, telekinesis, and astral projection just a few lessons away in the school gymnasium so long as they’re out before volleyball practice, but this scarcely registers to Dutch. In fairness, Lyra is consumed by a quest of her own: retrieving an all-powerful crystal before her evil brother, Haxan (Jonny Brugh) can lay claim to it for purposes of interdimensional domination. Not that Dutch much cares one way or the other.

The film gets far enough just on the strengths of its lead actors, both of whom commit to their characters’ unlikely cosmic alliance with a breezy charm that suits the story’s loopy, low-stakes register. (When Lyra asks Dutch, “Have you ever died?,” he responds, “Yeah… Once, a bit.”) That’s not to say that Wall and Noble don’t earn your investment in their psionic escapades. On the contrary, if Wall slips into the role of the reluctant hero with a petulant lack of interest in such matters as his own redemption, let alone who controls the space-time continuum, Noble’s bone-dry wit has the amusing effect of cutting through his overly self-involved demeanor — literally, in a laugh-out-loud sequence where Lyra encourages Dutch to concentrate on the gaps between his thoughts, only to insert herself within his prattling inner monologue once he proves incapable of quieting it on his own. Gradually, the two slip into a cosmic buddy-comedy dynamic, one that’s not afraid to become tender even as it revels in the awkward energy of their banter. 

There’s an appealing miscellany to “The Paragon,” with Duignan casting about for whatever’s at hand and emerging with a pleasantly frivolous grab-bag of visual motifs — spaghetti, lollipops, xylophones, figurines — to imbue with significance, at times recalling “Everything Everywhere All at Once” (though, mercifully, in a far lower key) and culminating in a sight gag of a Bible beside a butt plug that its protagonists barely blink at. Even funnier are stab-happy, plastic-wrapped mind-slaves that pop up alongside Haxan, approaching Dutch with heads empty and knives ready, and Haxan himself, an impossibly sensuous ham that Brugh (known for playing Deacon in “What We Do In the Shadows” and for the madcap “Mega Time Squad”) plays with eyebrows wiggling and a perpetual pout. 

It’s hard to find much fault with a film so sincere about being this silly, and Duignan’s earnest channeling of his ’80s influences is arguably closer to them in both spirit and sensibility than films made on far larger budgets, especially thanks to a toothily grandiose synth score from the musician Lucola Bang that’s all in without outstaying its welcome, and the film’s striking use of color filters, altered film speeds, and other clever, spendthrift techniques to convey trippy, mind-altering psychedelia. There’s a core sweetness to “The Paragon” that pervades its parallel-universe pandemonium and leaves its cast of eccentrics, ultimately, more connected to their humanity than before but otherwise much the same. Even in its loving pastiche, this is an offbeat, low-stakes original that casts a simple, surprising spell. 

“The Paragon” opens in select theaters and on demand nationwide Sept. 6, via Doppelgänger Releasing.

Isaac Feldberg

Isaac Feldberg is an entertainment journalist currently based in Chicago, who’s been writing professionally for nine years and hopes to stay at it for a few more.

• Benedict Wall as Dutch
• Florence Noble as Lyra
• Michelle Ang as Beth
• Shadon Meredith as Oates
• Jessica Grace Smith as Emily
• Chloe White as Vinnie
• Jonny Brugh as Haxan
• Cameron Rhodes as Enoch
• Michael Duignan

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