The Saviors (Hamedani, 2026) Review: A Satire About Today's World That Does Not Entirely Hit Just Right

You begin to question what is real. A science fiction disaster film that focuses more on the shock value than humanity. It looms into our dreadful ideas of one another. Society’s need to hate is elevated through media vents, stoked by fear and politics, all of which create a divide between individuals of all ethnicities. In playing with the issues of our world, and fully falling into the satire, writer-director Kevin Hamedani's The Saviors goes from a compelling piece to a film that does not entirely stick the landing.

Suburban couple Sean (Adam Scott) and Kim Harrison (Danielle Deadwyler) are on the brink of divorce. They believe they have found their perfect solution: Rent out their guest house to raise money, fix their house, sell it and then separate. Middle Eastern brother and sister, Amir (Theo Rossi) and Jahan Razi (Nazanin Boniadi) are the Harrison’s first renters. Soon after the Razi’s move in, bizarre occurrences commence — mysterious lights, missing animals, even unexplainable tech. Days before the President’s upcoming visit to town, the Razi’s strange behaviour begins to look suspicious to Sean. Roping in his wife, Sean and Kim begin to investigate these anomalies, and while doing so, their emotional connection once shared returns. Things get out of hand, and though their love might have returned, all might have been too late to save the day.

From the moment the renters arrive, you know something surreal is going to occur. Yet you mainly just wonder why hosts and their guests act as friendly as they do. Perhaps it is the casting of Adam Scott, but The Saviors feels like an existential episode of The Good Place. Its styling and comedic aspects combined with line delivery absolutely make it all feel too familiar. It is a happy sense of familiarity however, as we are transported through their journey, things slowly become more and more insane.

If you read The Saviors simply as a satire comedy, it would be all too basic. But with Scott leading the ensemble, the results are freely quite funny. As sad as it becomes that you are enjoying this crisis between ethnicities and the world, there is not enough room to breathe at times. You are made to want to understand the dark humour there, but also reflect upon how society behaves. The casts’ talents are undeniable as they deliver amazing one-liners, reflect off each other, and create a safe space in such a dark environment.

“Living outside of the white bubble…always watching”

In terms of where we can only assume Hamedani wanted to take it, the execution falls short at the end. Throughout The Saviors, you can see the build up he makes. He adds in jabs about how people believe too much in the news, in politics, as opposed to trusting the individual. Even if the film did not go down the path that one hoped for, there were elements within that Hamedani definitely wanted his audience to reflect upon. Hinting at how bad we treat each other, especially in recent years, is definitely where the important factor lies in the film. As a viewer it feels as though Hamedani needed to use the satire and fictional aspect of cinema to present the audience with a situation; an all too real situation, apart from the science fictional aspect. Perhaps that is maybe why The Saviors does not stick the landing. The science fiction and futuristic elements take away from the viewer reflecting inward and instead they see something completely wild and out of this world.

It is hard to tell, and viewing experience will definitely be different dependant on your ethnicity or race, but is The Saviors truly a satire or does it focus all too much on the hate between races? The cast is albeit hilarious and you do become invested in which of the pairs are correct in their pursuits. But the fact remains that something from this dark comedy is missing that does not allow it to achieve the thrilling level it so wishes to.

The Saviors2026