The thriller No Good Deed surprised the film industry by opening at the top of the box office. Most expected it would come and go and be forgotten. Slate writer Aisha Harris speculated that this automatic dismissal was because the film has two black stars—Idris Elba and Taraji P. Henson—who, though well-known, are not in the same league as Will Smith or Denzel Washington (though Elba, a black Brit, achieved considerable fame from his role in The Wire). No Good Deed's black stars fill the film's trailers and posters. There is no getting around them. There are no white actors for a white audience to identify with. Yet, No Good Deed is a box-office hit. It's also a very good thriller with a deep and important message (it's anti-suburbs, but I can't explain why, as that would reveal an important plot twist). The film begins with a convicted killer, Colin (Elba), escaping from a van that's transporting him back to prison after a failed meeting with a parole board. Colin flees into the woods and later turns up in Atlanta. He spots his former and very sexy girlfriend (Mexican actress Kate del Castillo), follows her, breaks into her house, learns that she has been unfaithful during his time in prison, and kills her with his very powerful hands. Later, while driving through an Atlanta suburb (homes in a dark and endless forest), he loses control of his car and crashes into a tree. He comes across a massive house with a long driveway. He knocks on the door; it is opened by an average-looking housewife, Terri (Henson), whose husband, a successful lawyer, is away for the weekend. Colin lies about needing help. Terri, who is lonely and possibly horny, lets him in and helps him. This turns out to be a big mistake. The house is isolated, the storm is getting worse, the killer roams the huge hallways, staircases, and rooms of the McMansion. What does he want? Will he kill the mother and her sleeping children? Who will rescue them from evil? by Charles Mudede