“No Good Deed,” directed by Sam Miller, was recently released in theaters. The thriller certainly represents its genre, with each passing minute proving to be darker than the last. While troubling. the quality of the film did not meet the expectations of many.

A lot of controversy surrounded the film for being a movie that is only convincing viewers to not trust black men. However, many viewers agree that is not the purpose of the film nor does it promote such prejudices. Despite the controversy regarding the plot, the lead actors Idris Elba and Taraji P. Henson did an exceptional job. Unfortunately, the film as a whole did not allow the actors’ true potentials to be displayed.

Advance screenings were canceled to protect the movie’s plot twist. However, the twist was definitely not the jaw-dropper that one would expect following such news, and barely contributed to the plot at all.

The movie centers around a man by the name of Colin who was played by Elba. Colin is up for parole after being detained for allegedly killing a man in a bar fight. He is then denied permission to be released after it is suggested that he is responsible for the deaths of five women. While being brought back to the prison he kills the guards and escapes, then beats his fiancé to death for cheating on him with another man.

He gets into a car accident after trying to flee in bad weather conditions. He happens across the doorstep of a stay-at-home mother of two, where he asks to use the phone. Tricked by his charm, the mother, played by Henson, lets him in thinking she is only doing a good deed for a man in need of help while her husband is away on a golf trip.

It turns out she was wrong. The night quickly becomes a nightmare as Colin tortures her, and she must protect her children and herself from him.

The motives behind his actions are not as coincidental as they had seemed in the beginning of the film, which causes more problems for the terrorized mother.

Many critics and viewers say this was not Miller’s best work because their expectations for the film were higher. This was a drab and drawn out film, making the hour and 20-minute movie seem much longer than it really was.

The movie is not a film that viewers will recommend to others. In fact, they may find themselves wanting the movie to end long before the credits roll.