Share

Watch It

On DVD: Now | On Blu-ray: TBD

Captivity Review

Movies.com Critics

0.0

Dave White Profile

… wouldn't be so much of a crime if there were imagination or style … to back it up … Read full review

Other Critics provided by Metacritic.com

Critics scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 2.0
    24

    out of 100

    Metascore®
    Generally unfavorable reviews
    based on a weighted average of all
    critic review scores.

  • 20

    out of 100

    Los Angeles Times

    It's the movie business equivalent of encountering someone you once knew begging for money on the street.

    Read Full Review

  • 20

    out of 100

    The Hollywood Reporter Frank Scheck

    The end result doesn't even satisfy on its own sleazy terms. Not only does it lack the satirical nihilism of the "Hostel" films or the admittedly clever torture machinations of the "Saw" series, it doesn't even provide its target young male audience with the requisite nudity.

    Read Full Review

  • 30

    out of 100

    The New York Times Jeannette Catsoulis

    The movie has been thoroughly eclipsed by "Captivity" the marketing.

    Read Full Review

  • 42

    out of 100

    Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

    Roland Joff brings an artful video-grunge look, and not much else, to this "Saw" clone.

    Read Full Review

  • 50

    out of 100

    Variety Joe Leydon

    Destined to be better remembered for its grisly billboard imagery than for its relatively tame torture-porn tropes, Captivity is a thoroughly nasty piece of work that nonetheless earns credit for generating modest suspense after a predictable but effective plot twist around the 50-minute mark.

    Read Full Review

  • 70

    out of 100

    Village Voice

    Roland Joff creates a visually interesting and aurally unsettling vibe, and the story from B-movie maestro Larry Cohen keeps it simple.

    Read Full Review

  • See all Captivity reviews at Metacritic.com

Fan Reviews provided by

5

Totally Delivers! by Squid33
I have to start by saying that I don't believe "critics" should be allowed to review horror genre films. It's not high art. It's gore, and scare, and squirming in your seat. These critics probably haven't eaten a hot dog in a while either-but they're still all-American. With that said, we saw Captivity last night and it TOTALLY delivered on all counts. Plenty of scare, plenty of gore, and definitely plenty of squirming. This is what we go to this kind of film to see. Period. It's a fun ride, cheesy in some respects, yes, but in the best way. And for the idiots who are "offended" by the film because it "promotes misogyny"-get over yourselves. I'm a woman - strong, independent, certainly not a victim, and I can separate fantasy from reality. Nobody who sees this movie (except the sociopaths who are already too far gone to give a crap about anyway) is going to get any new ideas about how to harm women. Spend your energy trying to change things in the Middle East...

4

Captivity, Not Really Torture Porn by zekelyndon
It would have been much more honest of the production company, After Dark Films, to say it was a thriller with slight torture porn inklings (very slight). Maybe, the folks at After Dark didn?t actually see the movie. What I saw was psychological in nature and dealt much more with assaults on the mind of those captive than it did with actual assaults on the bodies of those captive. Yes, there is some blood and some nasty gore but nothing like Saw or Hostel or even Touristas. It?s not a great movie but adequate. A solid B-movie endeavor. Fun, kind of stupid at times, pretty good acting by the luscious Elisha Cuthbert and the director, Roland Joffe imbued the entire film with a look that worked very well to be creepy and ominous. It moves fairly quickly, lags a bit in the middle and ends with a slightly predictable twist but really you don?t care at that point because, surprise, you?ve been entertained. Well, at least I was even though my hunger for gore was only slightly abated.

5

Unpleasantly Surprised, in a good way by vawagg
I didn?t really want to see this movie. I?m not much into the genre and frankly I was kind of angered by the billboards that got taken down. But there was not much else to go see if you?re not a Harry Potter fan. I was pleasantly, rather, unpleasantly surprised. This is good thriller. I loved Elisha Cuthbert. I thought she did a great job. I was plenty scared and truly worried for her. There is some pretty hot stuff between her and Daniel Gilles. Gilles has a chance to be another Hollywood heartthrob. I believed in her character and cared about what happened to her. It?s not at all what I expected from this movie. Though there are pretty gratuitous torture scenes most of the movie was internal and really tackled fear unlike I?ve seen in a movie before. It not anything like Hostel or Saw both of which I didn?t care for. I?d recommend this for anyone who wants a good thrill and doesn?t mind blood and gore.

3

Captivity by open minded fan
First off, I am a fan off cinema, regardless of genre. I especially enjoy B movies and this film looked to fiit the bill. The acting was ok, but the story line was exceptionally weak. The movie was easy to figure out from early on, with few, if any heart pounding scenes. To me, it almost felt as if the director was trying to rely on gore scenes to pull the movie through. Usually this type of movie injects some sort of humor, but the general tone was serious. In the end, this movie turned out to be one of those movies that elicits a "so-what" or "glad it's over" after spending hard earned money to be entertained. Marketing did a good job with the release of the trailor since it made this movie look fantastic, but what's new. Go see the movie, but you should lower your expectations!

1

Captivity by roy817
Probably the worst movie this year. I'm sure I was dumber for having seen this movie.

1

Captivity by iss7u7
Oh my!!! Have I been living in a closet or what? Took my 14 year old niece and I was so scared I told her we had to leave the movie. My niece told me not to worry that it was all just bad acting. I am still traumatized by what was shown and can't belive the reviews. Doesn't the disfunctional scene where the killer is shown in the room with his mother get to anybody? Why is this movie no big deal? Not scary for most? What has the world come too? Help!!! Hope it is banned from ever being shown again,--especially to those people who might be gathering crazy ideas for themselves. Lets make more happy films to get our minds off the despair in the world. Thanks!!

4

Good by djasont
It started out slow, but picked up and ended up to being a very scary, intriguing movie. I would recommend seeing it.

3

captivity by bday
this film was alright i liked some of the effects the storyline could have been better the acting was good it ws soposed to be like saw but wasn't that good so if you like torture films you will probelly like it as a horror i would grade this film as a c-

Advertisement