The Saviors
Rating: 5/5
By: Nathaniel Simpson
When attending SXSW this last year, there were a couple of movies that really stuck out to me. One of these films starred Adam Scott and was titled "The Saviors", and I immediately felt drawn to. However, with film festivals, it's usually quite hard to get to everything you want to, and unfortunately, I missed out on seeing this film while in Austin. Therefore, when I had the opportunity to check this film out when I was back home in California, I immediately jumped at the chance. What director Kevin Hamedani was able to do with this picture is a testament to his ability as a filmmaker, being able to seamlessly blend together darkly-comedic elements and a gripping story that will both entertain and stress out the audience. With an absolutely fantastic cast that consists of Scott, Danielle Deadwyler, Greg Kinnear, Theo Rossi, and Nazanin Boniadi, to name a few, Hamedani crafts one of the most important films of the year so far with themes that will surely get the nation talking when this film is released.
Scott and Deadwyler play Sean and Kim, a couple whose relationship is on the rocks ever since Sean was laid off from his job. Now struggling, they decide to start renting out their guest house to mysterious tenants in order to help pay for their mortgage. That is when Amir (Rossi) and Jahan (Boniadi) show up, with a huge mysterious trunk and are very secretive about their lives before arriving to Sean and Kim's house. When Sean starts to observe some odd behavior and is convinced a bomb is being built in their guest house that is being used for an act of terrorism, he does his best to try and convince Kim to help him put a stop to their guests before it is too late.
As you can tell from the synopsis for this film, this is a picture that will start a lot of conversations, especially in modern-day America. Hamedani, who is a Middle-Eastern American himself, is painting a portrait of this serious issue that is plaguing society in the United States, one that has been there since 9/11. The character of Sean shows this reaction that has been programmed into Americans over the last two decades, casting assumptions on strangers based on their ethnicity. Hamedani does a brilliant job of showcasing these two sets of characters, and really allows the viewer to tap into these mindsets that are present in our country today. His film would even have the audience questioning if Sean is really as crazy as he seems, or is there some merit behind his worries?
At the same time, with a story that deals with such heavy topics, he perfectly brings in this sort of darkly-comedic and shocking timing and characters that really allow viewers to also enjoy themselves with this movie. The character that Kinnear plays, named Jim Clemente, is absolutely hilarious and adds in such an element of fun and spontaneity that balances this film quite well. His scenes garnered laughs from the entire audience during my screening, and he is definitely a memorable part of this movie due to his sheer naturalness. I also wanted to point out how Ron Perlman, Kate Berlant, and Daveed Diggs, who have smaller roles in this movie, are fantastic throughout this film due to their comedic ability.
The real stars here, however, are our four main leads - played by Scott, Deadwyler, Rossi, and Boniadi. Ross and Boniadi do a great job of playing these very private and mysterious characters, and I absolutely love how Hamedani was able to work with them to uncover these layers of their characters throughout the movie. With every reveal and scene they are in, we get just a little more of them and the two actors' ability to pull this off is present in every part of this film. On the flip side, Scott and Deadwyler are brilliant in these roles. Their characters present this inherent racism that is found in many people in the world today, and these two incredibly talented performers are able to bring that to the screen. They have wonderful chemistry together and complement each other so well, and I want to point out Scott's and Deadwyler's natural comedic ability. In moments that are so tense or when they need them to really land the comedic timing, they hit the mark every single time.
On top of all of this, there is a major twist at the end of this film that absolutely blew me away, one that I genuinely couldn't see coming at all. Hamedani has such a natural talent as a filmmaker and storyteller, and it is oozing through every aspect of "The Saviors". From the way he is able to craft these characters to working with these very talented actors to bring this story to live and then go on to still manage to completely surprise the audiences, Hamedani is one of the most important and interesting voices in the art of filmmaking today. There is no doubt that he has the talent to craft these films, but he simply possesses the drive and dedication that I feel like is missing in a lot of mainstream movies today. In a world where some films might make the future of cinema seem bleak at times, we have filmmakers like Hamedani to remind us there is a reason to make films and that desire to craft these stories will always persist.
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