Star Wars actress Daisy Ridley returns to the action genre with "The Good Samaritan," an intense thriller directed by Pierre Morel, the filmmaker behind the acclaimed "Taken" franchise, with the production set to commence filming in spring 2026 along Australia's Gold Coast in Brisbane despite the story being set in Indonesian waters.
The film follows Dr. Rosalind Carver, a successful entrepreneur played by Ridley, who charters a yacht with her husband Matt for a vacation off the Indonesian coast, but their trip takes a dark turn when they rescue a wounded man adrift at sea, only to discover they've unwittingly become entangled in a deadly conspiracy involving pirates and corrupt officials.
After the rescue, their yacht disappears and Matt is kidnapped, forcing Rosalind to navigate a dangerous maze where she's hunted by pirates and imprisoned by authorities, with her survival depending on Sean Fuller, a private military contractor whose mysterious background and uncertain loyalties add layers of complexity to her predicament.
Director Pierre Morel, who also serves as executive producer alongside screenplay writer Matthew Ian Cirulnick of "Rambo: Last Blood," praised the project's "raw realism" and "Hitchcockian, noirish collision of two damaged souls from opposite worlds," expressing particular admiration for Ridley's ability to convey "palpable intelligence and poise under pressure" in high-stakes scenarios.
The production is backed by Mark Canton and Dorothy Canton of Canton Entertainment, Oakhurst Pictures, Renee Tab of Sentient Entertainment, and David Hopwood, with filming strategically located in Brisbane to double for Indonesian maritime settings while utilizing Australia's robust film infrastructure and coastal landscapes.
