2025’s “Safe House” shouldn’t be confused with or considered connected to the 2012 Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds action thriller of the same name. They do fall into the same genre, but that’s about as far as the similarities go. This recent film features a much different story, and director Jaimie Marshall tells it within an impressively lean and efficient 90 minutes.

Penned by screenwriter Leon Langford, “Safe House” maneuvers us through a handful of contrivances and an occasional trope or two on its way to delivering a propulsive action movie that’s just as much a tightly-wound thriller. It does an amazing amount within its fairly modest budget and the ensemble make good fits, often adding more to their characters than the script itself.

The film opens in downtown Los Angeles as a convoy is transporting the Vice President of the United States to a gala being held at City Hall. Suddenly the convoy is hit with high-grade explosives only a few blocks from its destination. At the same time, a bomb is detonated in front of City Hall, releasing a chemical agent into the heart of the city. As unknown gunmen rain down bullets, five federal agents scramble to a high-security federal safe house operated by a “housekeeper” named Anderson (Lucien Laviscount).

With barely any connections between them, the six key characters find themselves locked in a safe house with fellow agents they barely know, if at all. Aside from Anderson, we meet Special Agents Owens (Hannah John-Kamen) and Reeves (Michael Bradway) from the Department of Defense, the secretive Agent Choi (Lewis Tan) who was among the VP’s security detail, the trigger-happy Agent Sorello (Ethan Embry) from Homeland Security, and the grizzled Agent Halton (Holt McCallany) from Langley.

Still shaken from the terrorist attacks, the six agents must navigate their suspicions and work together if they want to survive. But that becomes increasingly difficult after the safe house is contacted by General Marshall (Brett Cullen). He informs the agents that the signal from the detonator used in the bombing has been traced to their building. Believing one of the agents to be the bomber, Marshall remotely seals the safe house until the identity of the bomber is discovered.

Most of the film follows the six rats in a cage who are not only fighting to survive threats from terrorists breaking in from the outside, but also the potential threat from a traitor already among them. Fear and frustration soon leads to paranoia. And the characters, with their distinct personalities and tightly held secrets, begin to clash. As for the audience, we’re left to take it all in – studying the agents and weighing the variables, all in effort to figure out who is or isn’t the person they claim to be.

As the mystery is playing out, the filmmakers break it up with several kinetic action sequences as the terrorists begin penetrating the fortified building. If you look close, there are clues to spot in the hectic shoot-outs and bone-cracking brawls. But these scenes are mostly about the well-choreographed action. It’s intense, fast-paced, and thrilling in large part due to Marshall’s crisp approach and the skillful lensing from cinematographer Michael Merriman.

The biggest problem with “Safe House” is a frustrating one. It’s found in the movie’s big reveal which unfortunately goes the more obvious route. Not only is the culprit’s identity fairly predictable, but their revelation rushes the movie to an underwhelming finish that’s capped off with a cliffhanger meant to set up a sequel. But the unexceptional ending doesn’t undermine the taut powder-keg story that leads to it. Marshall shrewdly keeps us invested by steadily propelling things forward and raising the stakes every step of the way. His steady screw-tightening and bursts of furious action makes “Safe House” an entertaining watch.