There Are No Saints is a 2022 action thriller about a former cartel hitman known as “The Jesuit” who goes on a violent mission to rescue his kidnapped son and avenge his murdered wife.

Quick Scoop on There Are No Saints

What the movie is about

  • The story follows Neto Niente, nicknamed “The Jesuit,” a coldly efficient ex-enforcer who was imprisoned for a crime he insists he did not commit.
  • After his release from a Texas prison, he discovers his ex‑wife has been murdered and his young son has been kidnapped and taken to Mexico by a cartel-linked crime boss.
  • Neto teams up with Inez, a stripper who gets pulled into his world, as he carves a brutal path through criminals and corrupt figures on both sides of the border to get his child back.

The core themes circle around revenge, “sins of the father,” and whether a man soaked in violence can ever truly become something better, or if redemption is impossible in a world where, as the title suggests, there are no saints.

Key facts (at a glance)

  • Title: There Are No Saints (originally titled The Jesuit)
  • Release: May 27, 2022 (USA, limited/theatrical and on demand)
  • Genre: Action thriller / crime thriller, very gritty and violent.
  • Director: Alfonso Pineda Ulloa.
  • Writer: Paul Schrader (known for Taxi Driver and First Reformed).
  • Main cast:
    • José María Yazpik as Neto Niente / “The Jesuit”
* Paz Vega as Nadia

* Shannyn Sossamon as Inez

* Ron Perlman as Sans, a crime lord linked to the kidnapping.

* Tim Roth as a shady lawyer connected to Neto’s past.

Mini sections

Tone and style

  • This is a dark, hard-edged crime film with graphic violence, torture imagery, and cruelty (including scenes that critics have called especially disturbing involving a child), so it leans heavily into “violent revenge thriller” territory rather than mainstream action fun.
  • Critics often describe it as feeling like a B‑movie: pulpy, grim, high on brutality and atmosphere but lighter on nuanced character development compared with Schrader’s best-known scripts.

Production background

  • The project was originally developed under the title The Jesuit , with Paul Schrader initially attached to direct before Alfonso Pineda Ulloa took over.
  • It was shot years earlier (reportedly around 2012–2014) and then sat unreleased for a long time before finally being distributed in 2022, which is why some reviewers mention it feeling like a “rescued” or delayed release.

How people talk about it online

Forum and review chatter (non-spoiler vibe):

  • Some viewers see it as a rough, stylish grindhouse‑style thriller: violent, uncompromising, and made for niche fans of grim cartel/revenge stories.
  • Others feel the extreme violence and bleakness outweigh the story depth, calling it unnecessary or dated given how long it sat on the shelf.
  • Paul Schrader’s name draws curiosity, but many commenters point out the film doesn’t reach the character complexity or moral psychology of his better-known work; it’s more straightforward revenge and carnage.

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Aspect Details
Title There Are No Saints (aka The Jesuit)
Year / Country 2022; USA–Mexico production
Genre Action thriller / crime revenge film
Director Alfonso Pineda Ulloa
Writer Paul Schrader
Main cast José María Yazpik, Paz Vega, Shannyn Sossamon, Ron Perlman, Tim Roth
Premise Ex-hitman “The Jesuit” hunts down the cartel boss who killed his wife and kidnapped his son in Mexico.
Violence level Very high; includes torture and disturbing scenes involving a child.
Release pattern Limited theatrical and on-demand release in May 2022 (US).
Early production Developed from around 2010 under the title The Jesuit, completed years before release.

If you’re deciding whether to watch it

  • Worth a look if you like uncompromising cartel/underworld revenge stories and don’t mind graphic violence.
  • Probably a skip if you’re sensitive to brutality, especially involving families or children, or if you’re expecting a deeply philosophical Schrader-style character study.

Bottom note: Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.