Director: Dean Devlin
Starring: David Tennant, Robert Sheehan, Kerry Condon, Carlito Olivero
Writer: Brandon Boyce
Studio: Signature Entertainment
Certificate: 15 (BBFC)
Release Date: 8th October 2018
Irish photographer Sean is struggling to stay afloat. Aside from his job valeting parking, Sean often breaks into the homes of those who leave their cars with him as they enjoy a fancy meal out. During one such dream heist, Sean breaks into the luxurious home of the clearly very wealthy Cale Erendreich. Who could ever resist the temptation to look into the only room in a house that has a serious-looking lock on it? Inside, Sean finds a woman tied and gagged to a chair. Will Sean come clean to the police about breaking into this house in order to save this kidnapped woman?
Bad Samaritan (great title, by the way) is an American horror/thriller film, starring both David Tennant (Dr. Who) and Robert Sheehan (Misfits, Love/Hate). The film follows Sean Falco (Sheehan) who is passionate about his photography but refuses to work for a mainstream company, as he fears it will crush his creativity. Instead, he works at a restaurant, parking customer’s cars. Wanting a little more spending money in life to not only pay the rent but to also look after his girlfriend, Sean also carries out robberies on people’s homes, whilst they are in the restaurant. Now this is a two-man job, which is where his co-worker Derek comes in. They take turns carrying out these heists. Tonight though, Sean brakes into a particular house that belongs to a very dangerous man.
David Tennant, widely known as portraying the Tenth Doctor in Dr. Who, plays a very sinister character in this film called Cale Erendreich. He first comes off as a very wealthy but shady businessman. His attitude and fancy car leave a lasting impression on the two valet workers, and they instantly decide to rob him. Cale’s character has a very calculating and unsettling mindset, immensely disturbed and focuses on always having control. He fits the bill when it comes to people who you wouldn’t suspect to be killers, as he’s very good at covering his footsteps.
I have known of Robert Sheehan from very early on in his career, when he first started in Foreign Exchange, an Irish (RTÉ) and Australian (Southern Star) television series. Now he is staring as a somewhat unlikely hero in this feature film, he starts out as a burglar taking advantage of both his workplace and its customers. Without giving away the ending, he ultimately changes his life around at the end.
Katie, the captive, is played by Kerry Condon, another Irish talent hailing from Thurles, Co Tipperary. Katie’s character is the woman that Sean finds tied up in the only locked room of the house. Katie and her abductor share a long past, with him torturing her now as an act of revenge. The role is a disturbing one to play, but was pulled off with great skill and understanding. Believe it or not, Kerry also plays Tony Stark’s A.I. secretary F.R.I.D.A.Y. in both Avengers: Age of Ultron and Avengers: Infinity War.
An intense film that will pull in the audience whether they like it or not, featuring a terrifying performance from David Tennant. Bad Samaritan is filled with suspense, action and is the second film directed by Dean Devlin, whose directorial debut included 2017’s Geostorm. It is available to buy now on DVD and BluRay from Signature Entertainment.
Overall: 8/10
