No Good Deed
In Tennessee, a prisoner Colin Evans (Idris Elba) is in a police van on the way to court with two policemen. It is revealed that Colin has been in prison for over 5 years for manslaughter. He pleas to the court to be granted parole, saying that he is a changed person. The court denies parole, claiming that he is not trustworthy enough. On the way back to prison, a frustrated Colin deceives the policemen in the car and murders both mercilessly, and escapes with the van.
At the same time, in Atlanta, Terri Granger (Taraji P. Henson) is home with her young children. Her best friend Meg (Leslie Bibb), a young, carefree woman suggests that Terri relax and not stress herself with her children and husband. Meg knows that Terri's relationship with her husband has taken a rough toll on her. Hence, Meg tells her not to worry and that she will visit her at night for a 'girls' night' to cheer Terri up. Terri's husband Jeffrey (Henry Simmons) arrives home just long enough to pack his things and visit his father, leaving her quite abruptly with their two children.
Colin stalks his ex-fiancée, Alexis (Kate del Castillo), and witnesses her intimacy with another man. He follows her home and they get into a violent argument, resulting in him murdering her in his fury. On the journey back, a terrible storm causes Colin to lose control of his car and it crashes into a tree. As he seeks help, he notices that there is only one house with the lights on, which happens to be Terri's. Later, Colin asks Terri for her help in getting a tow truck. She invites him inside after he uses her phone where he can take shelter from the storm as they wait for the tow truck.
Meg is shocked to see Colin. The three then talk and share glasses of wine. When Terri leaves momentarily to comfort her baby, Meg and Colin are left alone. Colin asks to be excused for a smoke break. Meg follows him into the garage and he offers her a cigarette, which she accepts. Meg asks him if he is having an affair with Terri. Colin shrugs, leading Meg to assume that he is. Later she criticizes him, saying that Terri would never do such a thing without telling her best friend. Her criticisms infuriate Colin and he strikes her dead with a shovel, leaving her dead body on the garage floor.
Terri returns to the hall after putting her baby to bed and is surprised to see that Meg is not there. Colin tells Terri that Meg left, but Terri is overcome by suspicion, especially when she sees Meg's umbrella in the stand. Terri realizes that Colin is not the nice person that he appeared to be. Alarmed, she rushes to the kitchen to call the police, only to find out that Colin has disconnected all the wires. Realizing that her and her children's lives are in danger, she rushes to Ryan's bedroom, only to find Colin playing with her. As they walk out of Ryan's bedroom, Terri hits him with a fire extinguisher. However, he manages to fight her back by aiming a gun at her. Terri is forced to obey him (including taking her clothes off in his presence). In a brief moment where she strikes him unconscious, she manages to flee to her bedroom and dial 911. Colin recovers and finds her in the bedroom. He yanks the phone out of her hand just as she finishes her call. She begs him to leave, but Colin forces her to take the children and get into her vehicle. He forces Terri to drive. While walking out of the garage, Terri sees Meg's dead body on the floor.
Tearfully, Terri asks him why he is doing this, to which Colin replies that she will see for herself soon. He refuses to tell her their destination. As they pass a police car on the road, Terri flashes her headlights when she thinks Colin is not looking, hoping to catch their attention. The police car forces them to pull over and a young policeman interrogates them. He requests that Terri step out of the vehicle, which she does. He asks her if she is all right, to which she is forced to reluctantly agree because Colin is alone with her children in the vehicle. The policeman senses her reluctance, but before he can do anything, Colin steps out of the car and shoots him dead. He shoves Terri back into the vehicle and they resume their journey.
Colin makes Terri drive to a house with the children. Unbeknown to Terri, this was actually the home of Colin's ex-fiancée, Alexis. She panics when she sees Alexis' dead body in the bedroom. As she tries to find the first-aid kit in the house, a tree knocked over by the storm outside hits Terri's car, causing the alarm to go off. Worried that the noise will attract attention, Colin binds her to the bed while he goes to check on the car. As Colin exits the house, Alexis' phone rings. Terri manages to free herself from being bound to answer Alexis' ringing phone, and the call turns out to be from Jeffrey, who is trying to meet Alexis. It is only then that Terri realizes that he was not out of town with his father after all and has been having an affair with Alexis. Terri also realizes that the encounter with Colin was not random, and that Colin wants revenge on Jeffrey because of his affair with Alexis. Terri tells her surprised husband the truth and has him call 911. She misleads Colin into thinking that they have escaped and hides her children. When Colin discovers her, she attacks Colin once more, this time grabbing his gun and shooting him until he falls out of a window, dead.
The police arrive, along with Jeffery, whom Terri punches in the face and does not forgive. Sometime later, leaves him. The movie ends with Terri moving into a new house with her children.
violence, neo noir, murder