No Good Deed

This predictable home-invasion drama could have benefitted from more complexity – or at least a few more viewings of David Fincher’s ‘Panic Room’. The characters’ inexplicable behaviour occurs over a series of bizarre sequences set in a large suburban home too slick and glossy for a genre that screams for dark and gloomy. Idris Elba is sort of convincing as Colin, a deranged escaped convict who tricks his way through the door of stay-at-home mum Terri (Taraji P Henson). Her effort to be trusting and inviting is hard to buy; you won’t be alone in wondering if anyone could be so naïve. The film’s saving grace is a good scene in which Terri finally battles the invader – a shot of self-empowerment a touch too late. This is less a thrill ride and more a slow train pulling up at the station.