A mysterious young woman befriends a widowed store owner - and is threatened by a dark secret.

Picture gallery

Katie, a mysterious young woman, arrives in the idyllic coastal town of Southport, North Carolina, where she wants to live anonymously. She rents a house in the woods, gets a job as a waitress and soon meets a wonderful man. Alex (Josh Duhamel) is a widower with two kids and too good to be true. They start a relationship, but there must of course be hurdles to overcome before the happy ending. So the kids have a "we miss mom" moment and a wanted poster with Katie's picture on it appears just as a stranger starts asking about her.

Some say that Nicholas Sparks adaptations are always the same movie – and they may not even be that far off the mark. Safe Haven, the eighth movie made from one of his books, is no exception as the story follows the usual pattern set up by the bestselling American author. Lasse Hallström, who gained Sparks experience with Dear John, directs this one without his usual signature, resulting in yet another bland love story with attractive, cookie-cutter stars.