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Parents' Guide to

Bad Samaritan

By Jeffrey Anderson, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 17+

Interesting characters, situations in violent thriller.

Movie R 2018 110 minutes
Bad Samaritan Poster Image

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What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

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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?

Our review:
Parents say Not yet rated
Kids say (2 ):

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?

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