Bad Samaritan – A clever thriller that keeps you on edge to the end

| Cris Alvarez

Some people might know that David Tennant can do creepy but I didn’t.  Bad Samaritan presents us with Tennant’s version of evil that’ll be difficult to shake from your memory and isn’t that what we all want from a thriller?

Bad Samaritan will be released on May 4, 2018 and focuses on a young artist who earns his keep as a valet and also as a petty burglar.  One errant burglary leads to his discovery of a frightful secret that he tries to report to the police. This good act sets the psychopath he’s discovered on his trail and you can imagine what happens next.  Actually you can’t, because the script takes well-worn thriller tropes and spins them on their head in a deliciously intelligent and intense way.

The movie sets the stage with a very sinister opening note however, it takes an odd and worrisome turn, with a following sequence that feels snatched from a National Geographic montage of Portland, Oregon.  Our hero is quickly introduced and he seems a bit cliché at first but after that the movie quickly sheds its problems and slowly raises the stakes bit by bit until you’re racing along at a rapid pace that rarely ever slackens.  It’s a testament to the movie that at a running time of one hour and forty-seven minutes, not once did I want to check the time. In fact, the movie seemed much shorter because of how well it held my attention. Even knowledge of the movie’s instigating events won’t slow you down because of how well they’re presented by the director, Dean Devlin.  Mr. Devlin has a solid directing resume and he applies his knowledge of action and thriller movies well in Bad Samaritan.

The music, while initially overbearing, shifted to the background at the right time and then worked well throughout.  The script was tight without only one or two minor plot point weaknesses that didn’t affect my enjoyment of the film.  Most of the characters, especially the main ones, were fresh and interesting and oddly, everyone, good and bad, proved to be intelligent and engaging. This movie played on the idea that sometimes you can do everything right and circumstances will still get in the way.  To explain what I mean would give away important parts of the movie and I won’t do that but, you can trust me.

The cinematographer and director worked so well together in setting up visual and contextual tension and to such good effect I found myself thinking – well done sirs. They were both playful and serious in just the right amounts. While it’s no doubt difficult to fool audiences in this day and age, simply because we’ve nearly seen it all, Bad Samaritan was able to delight with so many smart touches.  The actors played their parts very well and there were even a few truly emotional points in the movie.  I believed what the characters were giving me.

Bad Samaritan is not just a good thriller, it’s a good movie.  It’ll make you think a little more about technology and safety, since that’s a big part of the story too, and leave you feeling that you’ve spent your time well.  The only thing that keeps me from giving the movie an A- is that they didn’t tackle a large societal problem. What we do get is a very interesting, character-driven gem.