The Good Samaritans
2018 · 8m · United Kingdom
Directed by Christopher Goodman
Genres: dark comedy, historical, thriller
Tones: dark, darkly comic, theatrical
In 16th-century Romania, a beautiful young woman is stranded alone in a desolate corner of the country; two opportunistic highwaymen seek to take advantage of her predicament — but all is not as it seems.
Picked by Felix
The scouts
A 16th-century con-artist narrative dressed up as period thriller that gleefully subverts every 'damsel in distress' expectation — the kind of premise that makes you lean forward because you genuinely don't know where the rug-pull lands, and it earns every inch of its misdirection.
Goodman situates this in a lineage of theatrical reversals and dark-comedy inversions, executing the formal pivot with precision: the shift from apparent vulnerability to control is a matter of editing rhythm and performance calibration that recalls the tonal command of contemporary European shorts.
The entire film hinges on one performance decision — the woman's micro-expressions and stillness in the opening moments — and that single choice sustains the entire reversal; it's the kind of constraint-aware direction where a small cast and minimal location become an asset because every gesture has to *count*.
Reviews
It all comes together in the end, and then there's a stinger that's smart and satisfying. The picture is cleanly shot, well-performed, and features smooth action choreography.