The Captive (I) (2014) User Reviews

Tough watch

[kosmasp · 7/10 · 8 April 2015]

Sometimes your hunch can be completely off. Doesn't matter if you're a good cop otherwise. And this is just one of the sub-stories that are woven into the story. A story that is very close to reality, which makes this tough to watch. Ryan Reynolds is our driving force as his character (and his wife) cannot forget and forgive what happened to them. Who's fault is it though? Can it be on persons fault at all? The time-line hopping tries to keep the suspense up, which doesn't always succeed though.

The performances are great and you always can relate to the people involved. It might get a bit too much towards the end (not sure everyone will like how this goes on towards the finale), but it's generally a decent thriller and a "good" watch

Too many plot holes

[danielmanson · 5/10 · 25 June 2020]

Man, I wanted this to be good. The idea is definitely there it was just executed badly. The acting and people involved were chosen well, Ryan Reynolds especially I thought did a good job. But that's all the positives from me.

There's just too many issues and plot holes in this, that you can't get past. The "villain" who has the daughter in captive. What's his deal? Why does he act bizarre? There's nothing explained about him at all. This is a common occurrence for a lot of the characters in this. Nobody is explained. No depth.

The lack of character depth then spilt into the plot itself. Certain conversations made no sense, because we have no depth to go off. An example is the convo in the prison (not a spoiler) who is this guy who is giving out demands and acting the top dog, when this scene is literally the only sodding scene he's in. WHO IS HE? Why does he have power? This sets up the next part, but you're left wondering why!

Other major issue was the flashbacks, they were not done correctly at all. Usually when it flashes back it should let us know, even if it's subtle and the characters look different. But no, it's literally the exact same just next shot. So half the time you are clueless that the scene isn't present and is past.

I feel like 5 is slightly generous won't lie, but I'm in a good mood today. It's a watchable film don't get me wrong, but it has a lot of issues. It's a shame because the idea is there, just the execution isn't.

Had major potential, then fell short. Fast.

[vonnahwill · 5/10 · 5 February 2015]

Naturally, I was intrigued by "The Captive", great plot and amazing actors, what could possibly go wrong? From the start, I could tell this movie was going to have a ton of flashbacks, which is fine, until those flashbacks kinda become irrelevant because the viewer has no idea which flashback comes first. Strike 1. The introduction of Scott Speedman was a treat, until he was a bit weird acting and since that was never explained, I guess that was just his character?.. Then the part where Ryan Reynolds character has an abusive past was brought up (in reference to plot), then was never to be heard of again. Strike 2. Still don't know much about the wife's character. Strike 3. No explanation about the relationship of the two detectives (Dawson & Speedman) but since Dawson seemed to have a picture of Speedman's niece in her office, it's to be assumed they're in a relationship. OK. And for the focus to be the family of the missing girl, I feel it rarely focused on them. Strike 4.

This movie just needed a lot of tweaking. Starting with some back story of the characters at the beginning. And less flashbacks. More explanations. And more focus on how the unit was actually working towards finding the missing child.

A thoroughly Egoyan movie, deals with kidnapping and child pornography.

[TxMike · 2 January 2017]

My wife and I saw this online (Amazon, Netflix, don't recall which). While I can't really say it is "enjoyable" because of the subject matter, it is a well-made and worthwhile story. Again Ryan Reynolds shows us he isn't just a pretty face.

It is a Canadian production throughout, and set on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls. Ryan Reynolds is a working man, a landscaper, Matthew. He has a bright, pretty daughter who is 9, just about to turn 10. Going home after his daughter's ice skating practice one day he stops briefly at the local pie shop for treats, his daughter stays in the back of the extended cab truck, and when Matthew returns she is gone. No idea where she is.

Rosario Dawson is the police chief of the small community, he goes there to report his daughter missing but instead of doing an immediate all-out search they question him over and over, seemingly assuming he wasn't telling the truth, that perhaps he was responsible for her being missing. New investigator, Scott Speedman as Jeffrey, is especially distrusting.

(Honestly, this part of the movie I disliked, it didn't seem realistic to me that the law-enforcement officers would immediately take that stance, plus I am not a Speedman fan, to me he is a lousy actor.)

Anyway that's the way Egoyan wrote the story, the daughter really was kidnapped, and the story spans about 8 years. We don't actually find out what all she was subjected to but it is hinted that she was used for online porn, where children are forced to "perform' while subscribers watch live. And as she got older was used to help recruit younger children.

The movie is primarily about the father, Matthew, never giving up, continuing to hold hope that his daughter was alive and he would find her. It is a bleak movie in many ways but we found it a worthwhile watch.

SPOILERS: We learn relatively early who the kidnapper is, and that he has installed hidden video equipment to be able to watch the parents real-time, as part of his perversion. When the daughter is about 17 and being cooperative he allows her to meet with her dad, in a secluded location, in the snow. When he tries to take her away the kidnapper comes out of hiding and shoots Matthew with a tranquilizer dart. Eventually Matthew used clues his daughter gave him to track down the guy, who dies in a shootout, but frees his daughter. The daughter is finally safe.

With a better ending I would have rate it even higher

[deloudelouvain · 7/10 · 16 June 2015]

Once again the actual ratings on IMDb are not correct at all to me. This movie deserves a lot more then a 5.8 rating. If it was not for the ending that wasn't that great I would have give it an eight. But for the rest I was really entertained by The Captive. The story is well written and keeps you interested during the whole movie. I'm not a huge fan of movies where the story goes back and forth from past to present but in this one it didn't really bothered me. The cast was well chosen and they all gave us a good performance, especially Mireille Enos. Ryan Reynolds a bit lesser but it was okay. I really felt the disgust for pedophiles through the whole movie. Disgusting predators that should be locked up for life. The movie gives you a good view about their disturbed minds and their complete absence of feelings for their victims. A good movie to watch, don't trust the ratings on here.

Mixed feelings.

[mm-39 · 6/10 · 7 September 2014]

Mixed feelings! The Captive is a Canadian made movie. I found The Captive payed homage to the 1980's Telafilm made in Canada movies. There is a cold feel with the environmental shots. The director made cold direct characters with blunt direct dialogue. A Scanners and Videodrome feel. Similar to a Swedish film with a dreary story line in a cold environment. What worked: Ryan Reynolds has a strong performance. A few heart pounding scenes. The tree scene sticks out. What did not work: Captive's story dragged and had lapses in parts. The creepy guy just did not sit well in the film. Unless that was the director's intentions. A few lose endings, which left the viewer hanging. Was the guy who owned the company involved and his wife too? I give The Captive a six out of ten. I may have to re-watch this movie.

Had the potential but not delivered well

[rjohnnet · 6/10 · 22 December 2014]

This movie has a good concept and the initial ground work is there. Problem is they jump from past to future without the viewer realizing it in many instances so it gets confusing trying to keep the story line straight (all they needed to do was add a year or something to the bottom corner of the screen). A few scenes do not make sense leading up to the finish of the movie as it is confusing if your are watching past or current events unfolding. Ryan Reynolds basically made this a decent movie with his acting skills, the rest of the cast are kind of annoying to watch. All said, what really made me positive I would never watch this again is that it just goes from being at a pinnacle point that they could have built up a huge amount of suspense and finished with a bang to a quick non suspenseful ending that just closed a few loose ends and ended the movie.

Now I know why it's a 5/10 movie...

[thkingx · 6/10 · 5 September 2014]

I'm a big movie bro man guy. Before I delve into a movie I first look at the IMDb rating, read the summary, and then read the reviews. The summary of the movie interested me but I did not have high hopes given the 5/10 rating. Watching this film, I was actually very entertained. I was hanging on the edge of my seat with my eyes glued to the screen.

Right off the rip, the film lets you know what happens to the little girl and who the captor is. The entire movie is the parents working with what seems like the best pedophile detectives ever assembled looking for their daughter. The movie does this Pulp Fiction thing with the past and the present scenes flipping and flopping back and forth to tell the story. No where near Pulp Fiction level, but the film gets the job done telling the story with it.

Viewing this movie it seemed more like a 7 rather than a 5/10. Until the final 15 minutes... Once the climax has hit I like a film to build its ending to a fulfilling satisfying conclusion. Once the end had arrived everything was slammed at you instantly and "Voila!", movie done. I'm not even exaggerating either. There was no build up or suspense to it at all. I can't be remotely descriptive without completely spoiling it. Poor finish to what could have been a good 7.5 film. The potential was there, the delivery was strong but poor finish.

The acting performances were "good". Nothing award worthy or anything, but the cast did "good". Except for Ryan Reynolds. I mean he could have at least tried a little harder to actually look like a devastated father who just lost his only daughter not knowing if she is dead or alive. Instead he looked more like a father who just lost his daughter at a Chuck E. Cheese's for 2 hours who was actually hiding in the ball pit the whole time...

The film's opening scenes promise a much richer film than what's delivered

[Likes_Ninjas90 · 4/10 · 6 December 2014]

The Captive's two best qualities are its snowy setting and Ryan Reynolds' lead performance. Otherwise, the film is an overlong and jumbled thriller, whose gimmicky structure fails to hide how far- fetched and formulaic the thriller component is once linear. The film's director Atom Egoyan has made many poorly received films recently, including Devil's Knot and now this feature, which was booed at the Cannes Film Festival this year. Egoyan is Egyptian-born with Armenian parents but was raised in Canada. He has set this film in Niagara Falls but it was primarily shot in Sudbury, Ontario. It's an icy cold, wintery location, the barrenness of which projects the loneliness and sense of loss Egoyan has tried evoking in the narrative's themes. It is a unique setting, one which required special measures for shooting by the film's crew, and makes the film's opening scenes promise a much richer film than what's delivered.

The film is about the kidnapping of Cass (Peyton Kennedy), a young girl who was sitting in her father's car when he went into a store but came back to find her missing. The father is Matthew (Reynolds), who continues searching for his daughter nine years after she has vanished and in spite of his relationship with his wife Tina (Mireille Enos) breaking down. The film switches between Matthew's current pursuit and the start of the investigation, instigated by two detectives. Nicole (Rosario Dawson) is a senior detective specialising in the Child Exploitation Unit and hunting down online predators and child pornography rings. She keeps in contact over the years with Tina and is partnered on the case with Jeffrey (Scott Speedman), a rookie to this department, fearless in stirring suspects and getting under their skin. He tries making a suspect of Matthew and also develops a relationship with Nicole. Meanwhile, there are strange scenes where Cass (now played by Alexia Fast) is grown up and still alive in the home of her captor Mika (Kevin Durand). Rather than using her for sexual pleasure, she is encouraged to read poetry and listen to classical music and become bait for other children online.

The film begins well, not only because of the setting, but because of the quality of Ryan Reynolds' performance. It is a change in pace and tone, which he signposted with his strong work in the film Buried. His distraught, frustrated emotions, particularly with the way he is treated by the police, are believably conceived but he is the cast's only standout. The film also drifts away from him with the plot and changes in perspective. The plot structure shuffles back and forth so frequently between time periods, with little warning, and for no reason other than to disguise how this is a highly formulaic thriller. The film's pacing is crippled by this editing technique, dragging the film even though it is less than two hours long, and any tension is dissolved. Egoyan has said he is celebrating the human spirit, but his ideas about being drawn into the search as much as being devastated by it don't come to fruition or feel transcendent. The search isn't very different from other kidnapping films like Ransom or The Changeling, where parents never give up on their lost children.

It is not even a plausible or authenticated crime film. Egoyan has said he did not want to show any explicit material because it is more unsettling not seeing it but imagining it. The difficulty of dealing with the material is understandable, especially from a commercial standpoint. But the compromise he has made is substituting explicitness for ridiculous plot points and developments. The most absurd episodes of his overcrowded screenplay are shared between its voyeuristic components, like the criminals monitoring Cass's mother with hidden surveillance equipment, and also a second kidnapping when the criminals target Nicole herself. It is a very strange and forgettable thriller, which shows how difficult it is dealing with a troubling subject matter while remaining within the frame of the kidnapping subgenre.

A potentially solid thriller marred by an attempt to be an artistic

[Robert_duder · 6/10 · 17 January 2015]

As many reviewers have pointed out this is not a new idea. Prisoners did it and did it extremely well. This doesn't even hold a candle to Prisoners. That being said, it is a very effective thriller with a lot of mood and great cinematography. It utilizes the cold and very bleak Canadian North to really put you in the mood of the emotions in the film. The issue is that Atom Egoyan has a reputation of being an "artsy" sort of film maker. I have hardly seen any of his work but I know what he aims to do. I saw nearly the exact same problem when watching his film Devil's Knot last year. That film should have been an amazing thriller based on an incredibly fascinating crime but it was stumbling and slow and missed the point. The Captive does the same sort of errors. It seems like a simple story about how losing their daughter sends a couple spiralling and two police detectives struggle to close the case when it becomes apparent the child is still alive. Then for some reason the story becomes complex and twisted and jumps back and forth in time and throws turns at you that don't make sense and by the end of the film you just don't even understand who is who or what is going on. There is nothing wrong with how the film is made, its just that Egoyan tries too hard to make this unique fascinating piece of art instead of focusing on a story.

Ryan Reynolds is one of my favourite young actors and he has been for years. He is extremely versatile and I love seeing him in this type of role when he does comedy so well. He also does high intensity emotion very well and playing a distraught father suits him. He definitely is a big reason to see this though he sort of takes a back seat in the middle of the film for some reason. He is great in the film. Mireille Enos is decent as his wife who also shows some great emotion in her scenes. Reynolds is significantly better than she is though and their chemistry isn't great so she is just okay. Rosario Dawson and Scott Speedman are the two detectives involved in the case. They are both okay but very underdeveloped characters. I feel like there is so much more there (think Gyllenhaal in Prisoners) but they mostly ignore them as characters. Both could have been very good if more time had been spent focusing on them. Kevin Durand certainly has the perfect look down for playing the creepy psychopath that has taken their daughter. Durand doesn't get a lot of time to establish his character but he looks the part and that goes a long way. Alexia Fast plays their daughter in the future (oldest version of her) and is okay but seems almost monotone at times but that could be attributed to her situation. Certainly Reynolds is the absolute highlight of the cast and the film.

What should be a very taut thriller has an awful lot of plot holes and patching done. Patching by ignoring certain details or rushing through a lot of things. The film feels very slapped together in many ways. Its one of those movies (and I see a lot of them like this) that has so much potential and you can see that but it only makes the mistakes even more glaring. The ending climax really picks up and there is an exhilarating car chase and then after that it was like someone yelled "We're out of money" and they through all pages out except the last one and filmed it quick and movie over. Never mind the biggest fact that you're supposed to buy that this girl is missing for 5-7 years-ish but no one looks even remotely different other than her who has doubled in age (but goes right back out to the ice rink when she gets home.) It is an extremely mediocre effort for Egoyan and probably only worth a four or five out of ten but Ryan Reynolds gives it a slight boost and it wasn't a total waste of an evening. If you're a fan of his then its worth seeing, otherwise Prisoners buries this film. 6/10

Why the jumping timeline?

[unyan · 5/10 · 5 June 2020]

It's an interesting film with many good character studies but so confusing because of its jumping all over the place timeline. Very difficult to keep track of what's going on.

Good Movie

[pgeorge11 · 8/10 · 21 September 2014]

This is the last time I take into consideration negative reviews + a low rating. I was very undecided about going to see this movie due to this bad habit of reading reviews on IMDb. It is not the first time a low rated movie turns out to be great, but it is certainly the greatest contrast between reviews and the actual movie. This just proves that most users are probably persons who don't understand a well constructed narrative and don't have an eye for beautiful cinematography. Ryan Reynolds does a great job and so do his co-stars. I also admire Mr. Atom Egoyan for writing, directing and producing this movie. It is a good movie. Go watch it and don't let the rating create low expectations. Hopefully it will exceed the current 5.8.

Would have been 7 if the time frame wasn't sh**

[nathanmanson · 6/10 · 11 January 2019]

I was expecting the worst because of the reviews but it was actually really good and with a really good ending that I wasn't expecting but the time frame was jumping all over the sodding shop it was so hard to keep track. Like if look I away for 2 minutes then it's 8 years ago then I look away again and would you believe it we're in the present like come on man.

What was he thinking?

[gblehman · 3/10 · 4 February 2015]

This one is all on the Director. I don't know what he was trying to accomplish but it failed miserably. The basic outline of the story showed a lot of promise but it never came together. Its funny that one of the reoccurring lines in the dialog between the father and daughter focused on the word "gimmick" because it seemed as if the director tried to fit every story telling gimmick he could think of into this film. The result is a horribly told story. Constantly confusing. Disjointed. Lacking any depth - you couldn't connect with any of the characters. The story had no pace. You spend your time trying to figure out what's going on....then asking yourself, why did they do that...and then constantly hoping they can manage to pull their stuff together, only to be disappointed in the end. The actors were a talented group. I can't imagine how frustrating it must have been for them being stuck in this slow motion train wreck.

What the hell did I just watch

[clarastoria · 6 September 2016]

Plain and simple, this movie is so ridiculous it's almost funny. I feel like it was written by teenagers. The story line has potential but the way it is told is confusing, unclear, and with no real purpose for being so out of order.. With the exception of the father played by Ryan Reynolds, I have to say that every single character is extremely unrealistic. The detectives in particular are the most unbelievable characters I've ever seen in a movie to date. They acted childish and inexperienced, not at all like the child abduction detectives they are meant to be. The most ridiculous thing for me was the treatment of Ryan Reynolds' character (as the father of the missing girl). Yes, I get that often the parents are the first suspects in a child abduction case.. But once they are ruled out, that should be the end of it! Their treatment of the father in the initial interview is absolutely absurd... And yet, even 8 years after the abduction, when it is pretty bloody obvious the father had nothing to do with the abduction, Scott Speedman's character is still giving the poor guy a hard time about it! For e.g, Speedman's detective finds it suspicious that Reynolds has a shrine to his missing daughter in the back of his truck? I believe the exact quote was "what's with the shrine, man?" as he is taking photos of the truck... On what planet is it suspicious behaviour to have a shrine of your missing daughter?! It would be more suspicious if Reynolds' character wasn't grieving over his missing daughter, wouldn't it?? The character of the kidnapper is also just absolutely hilarious. His voice, his demeanor, his facial expressions, all just completely over the top. I half expected him to swivel around in an arm chair stroking a cat with a patch over his eye.. Argh. Don't waste your time with this piece of poop.

A good movie

[shankarn_r · 7/10 · 5 September 2014]

Actually, its a nice movie. It is quite underrated. ----------------- CONTAINS SPOILERS ------------------ I liked so many aspects of the movie. Firstly, I like Ryan Reynolds. Secondly, the story was well written. This movie had a bit of a suspense initially though it was a bit slow. I liked the idea of switching between the past and the present without giving any hint to the audience. This happens throughout the movie, which kinda kept me guessing and finally i got it... The ending was not the one you would expect but i guess that is a different style of ending the story. Not sure why this movie was initially rated 5/10, seems to be on the better side (>6.5).

The message is to we be alert all time, no matter how friendly the society is.

[Reno-Rangan · 6/10 · 14 September 2016]

This is like an extended version of 'Prisoners'. Sets in a small snowy Canadian town where a ten year old girl was mysteriously disappeared and so the film focused on the life of her parents who are eager to see her even after 8 years past. The cops and parents, hopelessly look for any clue of her being alive. Happy or sad ending, that's what the film's conclusion decides. Maybe the director was inspired to make this by his previous film, which was similar and based on the real, but that ends differently.

Films like this scares if you are a family man. But I think if we keep watching them at the time of it comes out, it is to alert us about our family security lapse. No matter whatever the country is, how safety it is, as they say, still thing like this happens in an eye blink time. The film is really something big, I wanted to like it, but they did not make the film right.

Not a bad film, only badly made, that's all. The characters, the concept had potential and the development ruined it everything. Nearly 75 per cent of the film was a drag. Everything we wanted to know is in first 15 and the last 30 minutes. In between, they have wasted in the name of development, hence the film failed to impress as what it promised, not from the message perspective and that's the point.

Not all the actors were good, particularly Ryan Reynolds was the best. The remaining ones were okay, though Rosario Dawson was the next best thing in the film. I did not like the presentation, it was so random to move from and forth between in the 8 years time span, it totally messed the film. Not only confuses the viewers, it gained nothing from it. Because usually this kind of narration method used to bring twist and turns and audience to keep guessing till the final, but in this case, it did not work at all. Other than that the film was better than it was criticised, I still suggest it for the adults because of the film theme.

6/10

The suspense is ever present with a conscious decision to exclude any gratuitous violence or sexual content

[Ed-Shullivan · 7/10 · 22 December 2015]

The Captive has more pluses than minuses so let me explain the pluses first.

Plus - The suspense is present from the very opening scene. Ryan Reynolds plays an independent landscaping contractor named Matthew Lane who adores his little girl, and never misses her figure skating practices, or competitions. His wife Tina Lane played by Mireille Enos is also much in love with her husband Matthew and their daughter Cassandra. When Matthew makes his regular weekly stop to pick up his daughters' favorite cherry rhubarb pie after her figure skating practice, Cass is lying down in the back of Matthew's truck when he goes in to the restaurant to pick up the pie. What happens next is every parents worse nightmare, and in reality there are tens of thousands of families over the past 50 years that have lived this exact tragedy. Matthew casually comes out of the restaurant, pie in hand, but his little Cass is nowhere to be found. There are no other vehicles in the restaurant parking lot, there are no other people in the restaurant other than the waitress. Poor little Cass has vanished into thin air. Who is responsible for this henious act?

We then witness the initial interrogation by the two lead detectives Nicole (played by Rosario Dawson) and Jeff (played by Scott Speedman) of the last known person to see little Cass, that person being Matthew Lane, her distraught father. Obviously any competent police force realizes statistically that kidnapped children usually know their abductors, and historically a good percentage of abductions (and the imminent murder of kidnapped children) are caused by the children's parent(s). So Matthew should have been a bit more cooperative with the detectives during that initial interrogation. Was he involved or not? We the audience are really not quite sure...and so the suspense continues.

Kevin Durand plays Mika, who is second in command to a major construction firm, and whose real passion is kidnapping little girls like Cass and exploiting them to pedophiles on the world wide web. His creepiness and intellect are ever present and the audience wonders if Cass will ever be free of her captor Mika, from her secluded basement dwelling in his home.

I also want to thank director Atom Egoyan for purposely excluding any gratuitous gore or sexual content related to pedophilia. Mr Egoyan obviously respects his audience and realizes that we the audience can conceptualize what poor little Cass is being exposed to over her 8 year captivity and presenting any sensitive scenes relating to pedophilia would not have added any value to his film. Thank you Mr. Egoyan for keeping your suspense film classy.

Minuses - The director, Atom Egoyan, uses a technique that other suspense films have used quite frankly, much more effective than in this film. The technique I am referring to is to flip the various scenes between current, and past time frames, to the point where it has a negative effect on the level of suspense and adds no value in explaining the initial capture of Cass that has now extended in to an 8 year unsolved kidnapping.

The two lead detectives played by Rosario Dawson and Scott Speedman doesn't really work. Detective Jeff (Scott Speedman) plays more of an antagonist to Cass's father Matthew Lane as he has pre-determined his guilt in Cass's disappearance. The film never shows the two detectives Nicole and Jeff making any forward progress on Cass's kidnapping other than observing a more mature Cass soliciting new jail bait for her captor Mika, by befriending young girls on the web. In fact it is Cass's daddy Matthew who eventually determines who the kidnappers are.

Without giving away the ending it is a bit of a letdown. Although there are a few loose ends not clearly explained such as mom's housekeeping duties in a Niagara Falls hotel being monitored by the kidnappers as they leave Cass's mom Tina clues in the rooms that she cleans such as Cass's baby teeth, hair brush and figure skating trophy to witness Tina's distraught reactions to remind Tina her daughter is held captive.

Director Atom Egoyan should stick more to the reliable chronological approach to the films sequencing rather than his film style of switching between past and present timelines for various scenes. Overall though I give the film a decent 7 out of 10 rating as the main actors are all very good in their respective roles, the suspense is present regardless if some other reviews say contrary. It is not quite on the same level of Anthony Hopkins version of Hannibal Lecter in the superb film Silence of the Lambs, but your money will still be well spent by viewing The Captive. I give it a thumbs up.

I would advise to see this film on DVD rather to spend money to see it on a silver screen.

[j-madej · 6/10 · 11 September 2014]

"The Captive" directed by Canadian writer/director Atom Egoyan is a movie set in wintery Canada and tells a story of abduction of a young girl from the back seat of the van of her father (Ryan Reynolds). Now, what sets this film apart from similar movies of this same subject like "Ransom" which was much more action based is a subtle way Egoyan chooses to tell this story going more towards of drama rather then offering viewer cheap trills. Also interjection of a pedophile angle might make some viewers uncomfortable. It takes a while to get into but once the narrative ground work is done we as audience are engaged and want to find out what will happen in the end. The action of the film spans through 8 years where we witness the degradation and changes in all the characters involved. For a movie with a heavy subject like kidnapping and pedophilia provided by higher society class of the so called 1% of the wealthiest people where as in this story it is a tradition that has been kept and passed on through the generations to victimize little children who are prone to be abused.

"Eight years after the disappearance of Cassandra (Alexia Fast), some disturbing incidents seem to indicate that she's still alive. Police, parents and Cassandra herself, will try to unravel the mystery of her disappearance."

There is no mystery here, who's done it and why. We get the full picture on the motivation of all the involved characters. This is why the movie is going towards drama instead of creating more suspense and the anticipation for the audience. This is where I think Atom Egoyan went wrong with it. By allowing on too much exposition he elevated the integral part of any thriller where we as the audience want to know who has done it and why. In "The Captive" we know pretty much from the beginning who is responsible, what is their motivation and we slowly suspect how the movie might end. And that's not good being 112 minutes long it can be a long time to sit through a movie that we pretty much know how it will end. But, perhaps the ultimate fault of "The Captive" lays in showing too much. The stakes are getting lowered and once that happens we start to look at the watch thinking when will this movie end. "The Captive" had a great promise but ultimately the execution was just not strong enough and none of the very good performances from all the actors will not fix that fact. I think that this film might go to DVD despite stars like Ryan Reynolds and Rosario Dawson are doing their best to engage us. Above all I think there is a one very strong performance of an underrated actress Mireille Enos (Sabotage, World War Z) who in some way steals the movie in terms of performance. There is something damaged about her that translates well in to the performances she creates. Here she is mother who lost her child stroked with bitterness and grief. Each scene that she is in is one of the most memorable ones. I suppose Kevin Durand who plays the pedophile handler Mika (I met him once in L.A Fitness, he is a big dude in real life) might get some attention but his performance feels to stylized and forced to be truly appertained. Due to the fact that this film is full of good actors perhaps it is being judged a little bit harsh then if it would be full of unknowns. All the ingredients were there to make this film being truly special but perhaps the cook (director) or the kitchen (location) or the recipe (script) did not deliver the meal (end product) that after its consumption (watching) you feel truly satisfied. All in all I would advise to see this film on DVD rather to spend money to see it on a silver screen.

For more of my film reviews please go to : www.facebook.com/JanuszMadejTechnique

Boy, this is Bad

[reddperc · 1/10 · 20 December 2014]

It should be a telling indicator when a movie studio releases a movie online the same time they release it in the theaters. It means the studio knows it's a bomb, and is going to try and get the most money they can out of it, through all mediums, before the negative reviews take hold. Well, it worked, and they got my $5.99. Ugh.

Movie has the potential to be something gripping, but instead it just slugs along. In other films, showing scenes out of sequence is done for specific impact or effect. Here it's done as a gimmick - "Hey, how about we show this part here, and then just for the hell of it, show an earlier part next, and then something from the middle after that..." Give me a break. It serves absolutely no purpose, and only further confuses, frustrates, and angers the audience.

Some of the acting is well done, but it's not enough. The creepy child abductor character is practically wearing a "creepy child abductor" Halloween mask, and yet he shuffles through this entire movie with nobody suspecting a thing. The relationship between the male/female detective leads is awkward, and never fully explained. The secondary members of the detective team are introduced with specific "gifts", only to be essentially never seen again (never mind showing how their "gifts" are relevant to the story).

I've never written a review here before, but this is such a clunker, I just couldn't help myself. I cringe as some others are comparing this to Hitchcock. Lord, have ya seen Hitchcock? Cause this crap ain't even close.

Unexpected

[MichaelHur · 6/10 · 28 February 2015]

To be honest in my opinion Peyton Kennedy is just a great actress, and she was a standout.

Is this your basic kidnapping movie ? Kinda but this movie is actually decent. Why? I can't say i normally don't like those kidnapping movies cause they are easily predictable, and so was this film. There were few unneeded scenes but i'm not going to spoil anything.

The cast. I guess it's okay, i mean this movie was not going to get better and i'm not saying that in a good way. I would have wanted to see a little more emotion from the parents. Otherwise everything was decent

The script. It's like i said before your normal kidnapping movie, but this one is a little better i guess, why? it's the mood that it gives you, the time traveling back and fourth , it's little confusing tho.

The location/s. It's Canada it's snowy,and the film didn't take advantage of that. There were no outstanding shots what so ever.

Soooo close

[davidcg580 · 5/10 · 5 December 2014]

What the heck? Look...this movie simply needed to be edited better. A lot better. The gal who kidnaps the cop...is she into it? Or was she a brainwashed captive from his past? The details guy detective....we get introduced and then never see him again? What about the boss of the development company? He plays no relevant role in this movie? If he subscribed to the video of this private "ring" THEN I'd be impressed with the twist of it all. They took what could have been a pretty good 6.8 IMDb review movie and trashed it to a 5.8. Sure this has been done before...I loved the landscaping trees bit. Clever. Not sure why the rest of it wasn't.

Implausible..... but I somehow got hooked

[pauljohninbolton · 8/10 · 28 December 2014]

Let me start by stating this isn't the greatest movie ever made - You've only got to look at some of the other reviews to see that. However...

I actually really enjoyed it (maybe because I'm the father of a 10 year old girl, and so could perhaps relate easier, IDK??). Anyway, it really got me hooked from the beginning. Sorry all you haters but it deserves better than a 5/10 score.

Many people moan about the confusing timeline. I honestly can't say I struggled with the story going back and forth. The actors appearances altered accordingly with age, hairstyles, etc... the story actually seemed fairly straight forward to follow without any difficulty. I can easily get muddled up in an awkward film if I lose interest - maybe that's what happened to all the negative critics on here??? Overall, an enjoyable movie (despite the disturbing story) that I'll undoubtedly recommend to family and friends.

Effective Abduction Thriller

[HorrorOverEverything · 6/10 · 4 September 2014]

"The Captive" is a thriller following a couple whose daughter was abducted and the detectives who work to help find her. The story is pretty straightforward but can get a little confusing due to constant jumping around in the timeline. But as long as you pay attention its fairly easy to tell when the film is flashing back.

I enjoyed the movie even though it was pretty typical and predictable. It never really tries to be anything other than what it is which is a good and bad thing. It keeps you watching but I never really felt as if I was on the edge of my seat or anything.

Overall this is a watchable movie that is worth checking out if you have already seen "Prisoners" and are in the mood for an abduction thriller. Not anything special but entertaining enough.

Decent plot ruined by editing

[dierregi · 2/10 · 28 May 2022]

Cass is kidnapped by weirdo Mika just short of her 10th birthday. She was in the car with her father Matthew who left her alone for a few minutes in a desolate, snowy parking. What happens next is short of risible: Matthew is treated as a suspect by the police because he had a bar brawl as a teenager.

From a single violent episode in your youth to degenerate father who sold his daughter to a pedophile is a long stretch, nonetheless the police does not investigate and Tina, Matthew's wife, also immediately blame and despise him for having "lost" their daughter.

All this is told in non-linear fashion, with scenes jumping to the past to the present, eight years after the abduction, when a distraught Matthew is allowed to see Cass by Mika, who in the meantime had surveillance cameras everywhere around Tina, to gloat on her pain. To this weirdness, add a bunch of most inefficient police detectives, lead by a female cop who gets herself caught by the same pedophiliac ring...

Besides the annoying non-linear narration, the lack of explanation about anything is extremely annoying: how did Mika kidnap Cass? There were no traces in the snow. And it happened really fast... Why did Mika kept spying on Tina? Why would he risk kidnapping a cop? Why should we care about the relationship between lady cop and her colleague? Why Tina immediately blames Matthew? Whatever... Ryan Reynolds does a good job and he gets the two stars, the rest is cra°.