The Critics Roundup: "The Remaining" and "No Good Deed"

“Un-scary, un-sure of its theology, in-consistent in its methods” are the words Crosswalk’s Shawn McEvoy uses to describe the newest Christian thriller/suspense The Remaining. The film is an alternative to the upcoming Left Behind reboot coming out next month. McEvoy sums the film as one that “hopes to offer a ‘Christian horror’ thrill with a message via another take on the Rapture and those it, um, leaves behind.” Despite its decision to tell a familiar story without changing much of the story, McEvoy believes the movie’s biggest problem is its struggle between pleasing horror film lovers and Christian moviegoers. The film teeters between the two audiences and makes a major (in McEvoy’s mind, bad) decision not to show the monsters it hypes up: “This film may have the weight of Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions behind it, but a big budget it does not.” The WashingtonPost’s Mark Jenkins agrees with McEvoy completely, saying The Remaining is “a low-budget, low-impact attempt to rewrite the Book of Revelation as a horror flick.” Interestingly enough, Jenkins believes the “fundamental problem” with the film is the actual story. He notes, “The movie relies on the instinctual human fear of death, but its message is that dying is a promotion.”

Fans of Idris Elba (most famously known for the BBC’s Luther) and Think Like A Man’s Taraji P. Henson might have been looking forward to No Good Deed, but Crosswalk’s Christa Banister wonders why the talented actors “would sign up for something so dreadful.” Even though the average horror story causes audiences to roll their eyes at the protagonist’s stupidity, Banister says the only way to make it through the entirety of the film is to suspend your disbelief. “For whatever reason, the writers made sure every single woman tosses her usual feminine intuition to the wind once they encounter the elusive Colin Evans (Elba).” One of the biggest disappointments Banister noticed was the absolute ridiculousness of the story; unfortunately, “in the absence of unique ideas, filmmakers resort to a big, fat plot twist no one could've predicted.” Variety’s Dennis Harvey agrees that “despite competent performances” by Elba and Henson, “the dialogue and situations in Aimee Lagos’ script are too routine to create much excitement.” In an extremely short review, Harvey brushes aside No Good Deed as “dullish and forgettable.”

Larisa Kline is an intern with Christianity Today Movies and a student at The King’s College in New York City.