If something seems off about There Are No Saints as a 2022 release, that may be because this generic thriller was shot in 2013 and has been sitting in distribution limbo for the past nine years. Rather than a fresh new release, it feels like one of those forgotten films that find new life on streaming services when presented to undemanding viewers just looking for a bit of gunplay and gratuitous nudity.
It's almost hard to believe that There Are No Saints was written by iconic filmmaker Paul Schrader, who's currently enjoying the back-to-back acclaim of his films First Reformed and The Card Counter. Prior to this success, Schrader enjoyed a prolonged period of B-movie limbo, working on projects like his notoriously terrible Bret Easton Ellis adaptation The Canyons and the Nicolas Cage thriller Dying of the Light that are more similar to There Are No Saints.
Like Dying of the Light, There Are No Saints was completed by producers without Schrader's involvement, although here he seems to have stepped back willingly. He handed his screenplay off to director Alfonso Pineda Ulloa, who delivers an anonymous piece of action built around a protagonist with little personality or charisma. There Are No Saints is full of the hallmarks of a movie that's been extensively retooled in post-production, starting with the opening narration from a never-seen radio host who provides the necessary exposition.
José María Yazpik (Narcos) gives a stone-faced performance as former underworld enforcer Neto Niente, who's been nicknamed "The Jesuit" for his old-fashioned torture methods. Thanks to a cop's recanted testimony, Neto is being set free from Texas' death row, where he was awaiting execution for an unspecified crime, possibly the murder of a police officer. Much of There Are No Saints remains unspecified so that characters' motivations and allegiances are murky even when they are dedicated to killing each other.
Neto is an anti-hero of sorts, but he doesn't seem to have any regret for what he's done, despite his visit to a church soon after his release. He tells his former boss that he's leaving his life of crime behind, but it doesn't seem to be because he has regrets or a change of heart. He wants to lay low and avoid the people who are after him, including the local police, and he also hopes to reconnect with his son, Julio (Keidrich Sellati).
Julio idolizes Neto and draws pictures of him in angelic and Christ-like poses, but there's no redemption arc for this cold-blooded killer. Neto antagonizes his ex-wife's new boyfriend, Vincent (Neal McDonough), another poorly defined underworld figure who smuggles guns across the U.S.-Mexico border. So Vincent kills Neto's ex-wife and kidnaps Julio for reasons that seem to change depending on which character is relaying them. Belatedly, There Are No Saints turns into a revenge thriller as Neto travels to Mexico to track down Vincent and rescue Julio.
He brings along Inez (Shannyn Sossamon), an exotic dancer he meets at a strip club owned by one of the mid-level crime bosses he has to take out in order to get to Julio. Initially, he pays her to pose as his wife so that he looks less suspicious crossing the border, but she sticks around, somewhat inexplicably falling for this gruff, taciturn criminal. Sossamon brings some welcome liveliness to There Are No Saints, playing Inez as an exuberant adventurer who eventually pays the price for her dedication to Neto. McDonough, as the most prominent in a series of villains, relishes his scumbag role, although he doesn't quite have enough screen time to make for a worthy counterpart to Yazpik.
Ulloa stages a couple of exciting action sequences -- one in a public bathroom, another in a moving SUV -- but not enough for There Are No Saints to get by on action alone. Recognizable stars, including Tim Roth, Tommy Flanagan, and Ron Perlman, show up briefly in roles that may or may not have at one time been more substantial. The plot lurches ahead rather haphazardly, and it's tough to care about the climactic reveal because so much of the context seems to be missing.
First Reformed and The Card Counter showcase what kind of movie Schrader might have made of There Are No Saints, which he had titled The Jesuit. The Card Counter star Oscar Isaac was even at one time attached to the lead role. Schrader's version might not have been a great movie, but it would have been more serious and contemplative, reckoning with the consequences of Neto's life of unchecked violence. There Are No Saints opens with a stock Bible quote and doesn't seem to get any more complex from there.
There Are No Saints opens Friday, May 27 in select theaters and on VOD.
