Sometimes a film has all of the key ingredients, years to marinate, and an impassioned chef, but still tastes off. That’s how I feel about Kevin Hamedani’s The Saviors. I get what it’s doing and love that. I love this cast and enjoyed the bits that worked. However, it sadly fell flat in a lot of areas, and I’m curious how audiences will receive it when it is available outside of festivals.
Disturbia?
Sean (Adam Scott) and Kim (Danielle Deadwyler) are heading for divorce and needing some extra income. So they rent their guest house to Amir (Theo Rossi) and Jahan (Nazanin Boniadi). The siblings are from the Middle East and immediately set off some paranoia in Sean. He begins to suspect them of something, but is not sure what. As he spends more time watching them, he eventually pulls in Kim and a couple of other people from his world. This eventually leads them to suspect the duo are assassins plotting against the president, which is the furthest thing from the sci-fi truth.
One of the things I found confusing about The Saviors is how quickly Sean pulls Kim into othering their guests. She gives a little pushback and mentions his white bubble once. Then all of a sudden, she’s okay to accuse their Brown tenants of being terrorists, too. This also happens as she and her husband are rekindling their romance. This kind of highlighted my biggest gripe with how this character is written.
Sean’s parents mention that he and his wife have differences. Yet, Kim’s Blackness, which would’ve helped give this story texture, is never really explored or utilized in this story. The character doesn’t even get a hair wrap or bonnet for when she sleeps. I wish this character were written with more care and culture. I also wonder if that would have led to more friction in the marriage. Or at the very least, more of a fight before agreeing, the only other Brown people in her zip code must be up to something evil.
What’s Working Here
This cast is stacked, and the performances are one of the saving graces. However, Theo Rossi and Nazanin Boniadi are the breakout stars. I saw two people with something weighing on them. The movie takes its time revealing what’s up with them, but anyone truly paying attention knows they are somehow tragic heroes. They force their characters to be three-dimensional in each scene, which not everyone else was able to do. That’s in part because they were written as more thought experiments or comic relief. It was fun seeing Jim Clemente (Greg Kinnear) and his wig, but he’s one of the many characters just kind of there. Same with a wasted Daveed Diggs, who had one scene and was another character who didn’t add anything. Both Diggs and Kinnear’s characters highlighted what I already suspected.
This feels like another movie this year, based on a script that has been sitting around for a bit. We love hearing people believe in their projects and eventually get them made. That sparks hope. However, this is the fourth movie I have seen in 2026 that feels like it was written 10-30 years ago. The second of which I saw at SXSW. I’m not coming for Travis Betz and Hamedani as screenwriters because at least their script wasn’t steeped in white feminism like the other films that fell into the same traps this year. One of the things working for The Saviors is that it’s at least trying. While it doesn’t quite find its footing or stick the landing, it does remind you America has problems and refuses to learn from its mistakes.
It’s Messy But Correct
There is no love for neighbors when they don’t look like us, and that leaves a lot of us in danger. We’re watching ICE terrorize the country and being deployed to airports. Sadly, not nearly enough people care, which is how we got here in the first place. Historically, this country’s need to other POC continues to put us in a racist circle that leads to new atrocities. Interestingly enough, these cyclical hellish nightmare never inspires anyone to push for actual change. That’s why 2016 taught voters nothing. That’s why white people continue saying we’re a post-racial society while the news and all of our lived experiences say differently. I am very much here for The Saviors’ intention, even if the impact left me frustrated and wanting.
