SXSW 2026 | Movie Review: Adam Scott & Danielle Deadwyler Have Awkward Suspicions About Their Muslim Guests in Uneven Social Thriller "The Saviors"
7/12 ForReel Score | 3/5 Stars
It was impossible for the SXSW programmers to know just how eerily Kevin Hamedani’s The Saviors would play on this particular Saturday. This paranoid comedy about conservative and liberal American Islamophobia cuts extra deep in the wake of the American government’s fear mongering about impending domestic retaliation from Iran from our war crimes against them. Every time I open my phone after a screening, I brace to hear that another rung in our delicate world order has snapped. It is hard to escape from those thoughts when we are tasked with laughing at just how deeply and cruelly these stigmas run in our culture. For the most part, I did. The jokes are delivered by an outstanding stacked cast who totally buy into this transgressive material, even if Hamedani’s screenplay doesn’t entirely deliver a satisfying gut punch.
We follow married couple Sean (Adam Scott) and Kimberly (Danielle Deadwyler). They have a civil dynamic but are on the brink of divorce, only sticking around to make a dent in the mortgage. They’ve started renting out their back house and find themselves welcoming middle eastern travelers Amir (Theo Rossi) and his deaf sister Jahan (Nazanin Boniadi). Quickly, they start noticing strange goings on. A violent green light emanates from their room. They have a bunch of strange gear in their bags. They keep strange hours and keep making slightly suspicious comments. The fear that something is up is enflamed by an impending visit from the controversial president that is fraught with protestors, leading Sean and Kimberly to believe that their guests may be planning an attack.
The Saviors works best when its characters are stewing in anxieties that feel either at irrational odds with their politeness or deeply malicious. Scott and Deadwyler share a relaxed but strained chemistry that feels entirely lived in. Kimberly’s already fading patience with unemployed Sean kicks into overdrive when he starts rattling off these theories but pretty quickly, she allows herself to be suspicious as well. Deadwyler is particularly excellent here, threading this uneasy shift with grace and sharp comedic timing. Meanwhile, Sean’s right winger sister Cleo (Kate Berlant, scoring huge laughs with nearly every line) is loud and adamant that Amir and Jahan are not to be trusted. After all, she’s actively reading the neo-nazi pamphlet that their parents (Ron Perlman and Colleen Camp, sadly only in one scene) sling on them. She’s also in a situationship with tacky private detective Jim (Greg Kinnear) whose sleuthing skills are the only thing messier than his mullet.
Unfortunately, Rossi and Boniadi are largely reduced to being watched. They have a handful of polite interactions with our leads during which their story changes from moment to moment, but there just isn’t much interiority there. This is in service of hiding the film’s predictable final twist, which is hinted at during several apocalyptic dreams that Sean has throughout. This twist completely explains their behavior and motivations and clearly should’ve been revealed at midpoint. It’s a powerful revelation, but one that the film is not at all interested in revoking with through the uncomfortable comedy it uses throughout. This would’ve been a far stronger piece if our two lead duos were working their plans in tandem so that we could completely relish all of their uncomfortable miscommunications. As is, we strain to keep the relatively thin mystery going until the very end, and then end after a violent but underwhelming climax right as things could’ve truly kicked into gear.
The Saviors had the potential to be one of the best and most crushing American social thrillers. Instead, it is satisfied with coasting on repetitive if often funny stalking shenanigans that eventually wear out their welcome. It is in many ways a perfect fit for a festival with a crowd that will laugh loudly at any humor that pushes boundaries, but I’m not sure if it is poised to make much of an impact outside of its few days in Texas.