Safe Haven

Play trailer

Safe Haven

PG-13

Released Feb 14, 2013

1h 55m

Romance

Drama

Mystery & Thriller

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

13%

Tomatometer

147 Reviews

67%

Popcornmeter

50,000+ Ratings

Katie Feldman moves to a small town on the North Carolina coast, determined to make a new life for herself. She takes a job as a waitress and keeps a low profile, but she is soon won over by the warmth and caring of the close-knit community, especially that of Alex, a widower. With the help of Alex and his children, Katie learns to love and trust again, but when a mysterious stranger arrives and starts asking questions, Katie's dark past threatens to reclaim her.

Watch on Fandango at Home

Stream Now

Critics Consensus

Schmaltzy, predictable, and melodramatic, Safe Haven also suffers from a ludicrous plot twist, making for a particularly ignominious Nicholas Sparks adaptation.

Read Critics Reviews

Larushka Ivan-Zadeh

metro.co.uk

How long can writer Nicholas Sparks trade off his iconic blub-fest The Notebook?

Rated: 2/5

Sep 5, 2017

Full Review

Wesley Morris

Grantland

A movie whose punch line is so delightfully absurd that even after you pretty much know what's coming you spit out your Pepsi anyway.

Jan 3, 2014

Full Review

Drew Hunt

Chicago Reader

Keeping up with the movie's inane plot twists makes for a capricious good time, but an unimaginative denouement turns the whole thing into a fool's errand.

Mar 7, 2013

Full Review

James Croot

The Post NZ

However, despite some added bite to Sparks' traditional mix of beachside frolics and attracting opposites, there's just a sense of déjà vu about the whole enterprise...

Rated: 2/5

Apr 18, 2023

Full Review

Kip Mooney

College Movie Review

Still has all the eye-rolling trademarks of a Nicholas Sparks production.

Rated: C+

Sep 18, 2021

Full Review

Jade Budowski

Decider

Josh Duhamel is smokin' hot, the love story is sweet, and it's all undeniably watchable.

Mar 8, 2021

Full Review

Read all reviews

Jacalyn R

I think this review is partially my fault. I'm an avid book reader and love the details in stories that makes them come alive. Being that I just read this book a week or so ago, I was excited to find out there was a movie about it. Despite the storyline being similar to the book, there's a lot of major changes to me that made it lose it spark. Even at the ending, finding out a "surprising" ( me not trying to spoil it) detail wasn't as shell-shocking as it was reading the book. I feel like this lacks the intimacy that the details in the book created. Not saying it's a bad movie, I just think that there was better details to change and leave out versus the ones that they did. Not only that, they could have done a little bit better character building /relationship building to really punch the impact. As a movie I would watch it again, but as one who loves Nicholas Sparks novels, I think I'll stick to his books.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

09/26/25

Full Review

Allison B

Its frivolous but very watchable.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

09/25/25

Full Review

Audience Member

Seriously. What’s not to like? The plot was interesting, the acting was awesome. Julie Hough is easy on the eyes and the music was epic. I really don’t care what other people think. The plot twist at the end was unexpected and handled very well. I saw it when it was first released and I’ve watched agin on tv.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

08/27/25

Full Review

Jennifer A.

Absolutely love this movie!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

08/17/25

Full Review

Co D

Julianne Hough is not the best actress but I never get tired of watching this one

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

05/17/25

Full Review

Frans B

Much better than expected after reading lots of negative reviews. Cast all shines in character, cinematography is great, locations are really stunning. Well made. The plot, well, okay it is a bit predictable and ending is totally "absurd", but still surprising, hey? But, as a movie, really not deserving of all the bad rap, imo ...

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

04/29/25

Full Review

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

POST RATING

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

Lasse Hallström

Director

Josh Duhamel

Alex Wheatley

Julianne Hough

Katie Feldman

Cobie Smulders

Jo

David Lyons

Kevin Tierney

Noah Lomax

Josh

Passengers

19%

35%

Passengers

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Passengers

The Longest Ride

31%

71%

The Longest Ride

Watchlist

My Cousin Rachel

76%

45%

My Cousin Rachel

Watchlist

TRAILER

for My Cousin Rachel

The Fault in Our Stars

81%

85%

The Fault in Our Stars

Watchlist

Dear John

28%

55%

Dear John

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Dear John

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

View more photos

Synopsis

Katie Feldman moves to a small town on the North Carolina coast, determined to make a new life for herself. She takes a job as a waitress and keeps a low profile, but she is soon won over by the warmth and caring of the close-knit community, especially that of Alex, a widower. With the help of Alex and his children, Katie learns to love and trust again, but when a mysterious stranger arrives and starts asking questions, Katie's dark past threatens to reclaim her.

Director: Lasse Hallström
Producer: Ryan Kavanaugh, Wyck Godfrey, Marty Bowen, Nicholas Sparks
Screenwriter: Dana Stevens, Gage Lansky
Distributor: Relativity Media
Production Co: Temple Hill, Relativity Media, Nicholas Sparks Productions
Rating: PG-13 (Thematic Material|Sexuality|Threatening Behavior|Violence)
Genre: Romance, Drama, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Feb 14, 2013, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): May 6, 2013
Box Office (Gross USA): $71.3M
Runtime: 1h 55m
Sound Mix: Datasat, Dolby Digital

Most Popular at Home Now