Obsessed
A rather unconvincing attempt at suspense, this movie combines bad acting with a mismatched soundtrack and a predictable plot to create a rather sad excuse for a psycho-thriller. Idris Elba, a name in the television world, plays Derek Charles, a wealthy, good-looking and successful asset manager who’s just moved into his new house with his wife (Beyoncé Knowles) and little son.
All is perfect in Charles’s life until his new assistant Lisa (Ali Larter) becomes obsessed with him. There are some slightly uncomfortable moments, but suspense is totally elusive and the thriller tricks are cheap, easy and unoriginal. — Ilham Rawoot
Traitor
Some well-meant but fantastically flaccid and perfunctory gestures of friendship towards the Muslim world are the foundation of this empty thriller from writer-director Jeffrey Nachmanoff.
Don Cheadle plays Samir Horn, a Sudanese-American Muslim working for jihadist terrorists in the Middle East. But things are not as they appear. The movie is notable for an unintentionally hilarious finale concerning a suicide-bombing plot, a twist ending that could have been invented by the great Chris Morris himself.
A potential black comic masterpiece is buried in the rubble of liberal solemnity. — Peter Bradshaw