It's a tried and true premise: combine some good looking girls, very little clothing and some bad guys looking to kidnap them and you have an effective thriller. And Soon the Darkness brings together two of today's hottest actresses - Amber Heard and Odette Yustman - and nearly does just that.

In And Soon the Darkness, Heard and Yustman play Stephanie and Ellie, two best friends who are on a bicycle trip in a remote part of Argentina. The two flirtatious girls, who like to spend most of their time in sexy summer dresses or bikinis, come across a small, seemingly pleasant town, which, unbeknownst to them is also a conduit for human trafficking.

When Ellie goes missing, Stephanie sets out to find her before it's too late. She teams up with a mysterious foreigner (Karl Urban) to find her friend, but she soon learns no one is completely trustworthy.

And Soon the Darkness works well enough until it doesn't. Heard and Yustman look great and have strong chemistry with one another. Director Marcos Efron establishes the foundation for a good thriller, taking his time to foreshadow things to come and develop a believable cast of characters.

Unfortunately, the thriller crumbles in the third act. The climax is too abrupt, almost as if the production ran out of money partway through and needed to lop off an entire part of the film. Stephanie spends a good chunk of the movie looking for her friend, but (SPOILER) when she finally finds her, Ellie is subsequently killed off in a matter of minutes.

Urban's character Michael is completely wasted; just when he's getting interesting and his mysterious nature revealed, (SPOILER) he too is knocked off. In fact, he's introduced to the most compelling conflict in the picture, and yet the movie never goes down a path that allows for the development to be explored.

And Soon the Darkness, which is a remake of the 1970 British film, has many of the pieces to be a good movie, but it ends so poorly it's just not worth it.

Review by Erik Samdahl unless otherwise indicated.