Safe Room is about a recently widowed mother and her autistic son Ian. After Ian witnesses and records a murder across the street, his mother must protect her son from the deadly intruders who will do whatever it takes to retrieve the evidence.

"For me, it was a great opportunity to paint a picture about representation. We found this amazing actor, Nik Sanchez, who is on the spectrum and who brings this amazing, his amazing, talent to the project," Kodjoe said.

Kodjoe will both direct and star in the film alongside his real life wife, Nicole Ari Parker, and former Sopranos star Drea De Matteo.

"I've never played a character like this before. I've always played a victim, which sucks up your energy. I never realized how easy it is to be a psychopath. This is going to be one of those edge of your seat kind of things," Matteo said.

Safe Room premieres Saturday, January 15th, on Lifetime.