The Captive - Spurlos verschwunden

Im Augenblick der Entführung außerhalb des Bildes benutzte Egoyan die gleiche Aufnahme wie Villeneuve in Prisoners ein Jahr zuvor. Sonst begibt er sich aber in eine andere Richtung, die Schufte und das entführte Opfer werden gleich von Anfang an gezeigt, die Hauptfiguren allmählich vorgestellt. Die chronologische Verstreuung mancher Ereignisse sorgt im Film für ein interessantes Element. Was hier vor sich geht, begreift man erst nach längerer Zeit. Schließlich kommt es zu wirkungsvollen düsteren Szenen. Die Negativgestalten sind gut dargestellt, man bekommt von ihnen Gänsehaut. Ein solider, nicht gerade typischer Beitrag zu Filmen aus dem ähnlichen Genre. (26.03.2020)

A chilling thriller with a rather unpleasant theme, but a far more frightening central point (stalking, psychological terror). Egyptian director Atom Egoyan, who has made the much-discussed Devil's Knot, clearly has a flair for films with this theme, and so it is with The Captive. Ryan Reynolds and Mireille Enos as the overwhelmed parents are convincing, but Kevin Durand as the mentally disturbed kidnapper is downright excellent and exactly the kind of character I would expect from a slimy madman. But the film's biggest asset is that it can be suspenseful in pivotal scenes, incredibly emotional in others, and at times I was literally shaking in my seat and suffering with the characters. A brilliant and engaging film that knows how to play with the viewer and outlines the flip side of society in a realistic way. (02.10.2020)

Here we can compare the work of Atom Egoyan and Denis Villeneuve. An underdeveloped screenplay that, while offering plenty of interesting scenes and passages of dialogue, oddly jumps around in the timelines and doesn't allow the viewer to improvise and make assumptions, or even to leaf through the exuberant content, as it's opaque. And, unfortunately, it is also not half as atmospheric (lacking camera work, music, lighting) as Prisoners, an element that accounted for 50 percent of the success that film last year. All in all, Captive is a class below, but still decent filmmaking. The most enjoyable is again the expressive Ryan Reynolds, who just knows how to put himself in these roles. (04.10.2015)