Human freedom is a great value. Everyone is afraid of losing a loved one or experiencing the cruel trauma of imprisonment. Kidnapping movies vividly demonstrate the flurry of emotions and feelings of those who have experienced violence against a person.
Prisoners
- IMDB Rating – 8.1
- Genre: Thriller, Drama, Crime, Detective
- Production: USA / 2013
- Budget: $46,000,000
- Worldwide Box Office: $122,126,687
- Director: Denis Villeneuve
- Starring: Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Viola Davis, Maria Bello, Terrence Howard, Melissa Leo, Paul Dano, Dylan Minnette, Zoey Soule, Erin Gerasimovich
A small remote town in Pennsylvania turns out to be an unsafe place when two children from good families go missing one day. The incident occurred during a Thanksgiving celebration when friends and family gathered around the table. The children went for a walk outside with their peers. When the adults got worried that the kids were gone for a long time, it turned out that the girls were missing.
There’s nothing the police can do. The father of one of the girls takes on the investigation. Keller Dover hires a good detective to begin the search immediately. Keller realizes that the police are withholding some facts.
The performer of the main role for a long time was Leonardo DiCaprio, but eventually he dropped out of the project.
Room
- IMDB Rating – 8.1
- Genre: Thriller, Drama
- Production: Canada, Ireland, UK, USA / 2015
- Budget: $13,000,000
- Worldwide Box Office: $35,401,758
- Director: Leonard Abrahamson
- Starring: Brie Larson, Jacob Tremblay, Sean Bridgers, Joan Allen, Tom McCamus, William H. Macy, Cas Anwar, Randal Edwards, Amanda Brugel, Joe Ping
All five-year-old Jack has ever seen in his life is a room. It is a whole world for him, replacing the street, school and communication with his peers. His mom lives with him. She was kidnapped, and in her confinement, she gave birth to a baby boy.
The man who deprived them of their freedom comes occasionally, brings the necessary things and periodically rapes young Ma. Her baby son hides in a closet during this time, drawing a fairy tale world in his imagination. One day, the young mother is determined to escape from captivity. An unsuccessful escape could cost her and her son their lives, but there is no other way out.
Interestingly, the director looked at several thousand child actors before he saw Jacob Tremblay. The child was eight at the time of filming.
Taken
- IMDB Rating – 7.8
- Genre: Action, Thriller, Crime
- Production: France, USA, UK / 2007
- Budget: €25,000,000
- Worldwide box office: $226,830,568
- Director: Pierre Morel
- Starring: Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace, Famke Janssen, Olivier Rabourdin, Leland Orser, Xander Berkeley, Holly Vallance, John Grice, David Warshofsky, Gerard Watkins.
Retired CIA agent Brian Mills recently divorced his wife. The couple have a daughter, and the man is very fond of her. One day a teenage girl goes with a girlfriend on vacation in Paris, and there happens a terrible thing – she is kidnapped.
Mad with grief father has not lost the accumulated experience and fighting skills. These qualities should help him to return the child, if he manages to catch the child alive, but his misadventures will not end there.
Curiously, for more authenticity of the image, Liam Neeson had to learn parkour techniques. The actor was over 50 years old at the time.
Believe Me: The Abduction of Lisa McVey
- IMDB Rating – 7.2
- Genre: Drama, Crime, Biography
- Production: Canada / 2018
- Director: Jim Donovan
- Starring: Katie Douglas, David James Elliott, Rossif Sutherland, Amanda Ackury, Chris Owens, Bruno Verdoni, Meagan Fahlenbock, Shelby Bain, Milton Barnes, Alexandra Castillo
Young Lisa McVeigh, working as a saleswoman in a small store, becomes a victim of a maniac. He kidnapped her when she was returning home after her shift. The abuse and violence against the hostage begins in the car in which the kidnapper takes the teenager to his place. The girl begs to be released, and suddenly the request is fulfilled by the madman – he lets the captive go free.
When she returns, she tells her family and the police about what happened, but everyone believes her story to be fiction. Only one person believes that she is telling the truth – a detective who recognizes in this story the handwriting of a wanted serial killer.
The story is based on true events, and the real Lisa years later attended the execution of a rapist who had ruined dozens of women.
Cargo 200
- IMDB Rating – 7.1
- Genre: Thriller, Drama
- Production: Russia / 2007
- Worldwide box office receipts: $592,673
- Director: Alexei Balabanov
- Starring: Agniya Kuznetsova, Alexei Poluyan, Leonid Gromov, Alexei Serebryakov, Leonid Bichevin, Natalia Akimova, Yuri Stepanov, Mikhail Skryabin, Sergei Alexandrov, Valentina Andryukova.
The movie takes place in a small provincial town in the USSR during the Afghan war. The quiet life of a half-sleeping town is disturbed by the disappearance of the daughter of a local party official. There are neither witnesses nor evidence.
The same night there was also a murder. Both of these cases will lead comrade Zhurov – captain of the local police. In the same days in the city comes cargo 200, with the bodies of dead Afghans, and the militiaman suddenly became interested in the body of the fiancé of the missing girl.
The movie is so rife with violent scenes that it was officially discouraged from airing on domestic television, and was banned from screening at the Berlin and Cannes Film Festivals.
Split
- IMDB Rating – 7.3
- Genre: Thriller, Horror
- Production: USA, Japan / 2017
- Budget: $9,000,000
- Worldwide Box Office: $278,454,358
- Director: M. Knight Shyamalan
- Starring: James McAvoy, Anya Taylor-Joy, Betty Buckley, Haley Lou Richardson, Jessica Sula, Izzy Coffey, Brad William Henke, Sebastian Arcelus, Neil Huff, Uki Washington
Three schoolgirls woke up in a strange room. How they got here – the teenagers do not remember and do not understand. Soon it turned out that they were kidnapped by a strange guy. What purpose does he pursue, locking in four walls frightened girls? Answers will not please the captives. In the body of the kidnapper hides two dozen different personalities, each has its own fears, and all of them are waiting for a new neighbor.
As the director later admitted, the production of this horror movie about kidnapping was given to him the hardest in his life. Interestingly, during the filming process James McAvoy broke his arm, but kept silent about the incident, continued to play, and went to the hospital only a couple of days later.
The Disappearance of Alice Creed
- IMDB Rating – 6.7
- Genre: Thriller, Crime
- Production: UK / 2009
- Budget: $800,000
- Worldwide box office receipts: $867,714
- Director: J. Blakeson
- Starring: Martin Compston, Eddie Marsan, Gemma Arterton
Two ex-convicts decide to make some money. One of them has been planning to kidnap a rich heiress for ransom for a long time. His partner shows a picture of Alice Creed – the daughter of a man with a good income, and she is chosen as a target.
The attackers have thought everything through: they rented an apartment on the outskirts, covered the walls with soundproof material, bought a bed, new phones. The girl was kidnapped quite easily. The criminals intimidated her and sent shocking photos and videos to her father with a demand to pay the ransom. But at one point, the well-thought-out scheme began to collapse.
The movie was filmed on the Isle of Man, in February, and completed in 4 weeks. The actors had a hard time with the exterior scenes due to the weather conditions.
Cleveland Abduction
- IMDB Rating – 6.7
- Genre: Drama, Crime, Biography
- Production: USA / 2015
- Director: Alex Kalimnios
- Starring: Taryn Manning, Raymond Cruz, Katie Sarif, Samantha Droke, Pam Grier, Joe Morton, Jane Mowder, Christina Kopf, Tammy Tsai
Michelle Knight is kidnapped by her neighbor’s father, Ariel Castro. She becomes the maniac’s first victim. Ariel lives the life of an ordinary man, a caring father, a friendly neighbor, a wonderful friend, a talented musician. No one could ever think that he is a cruel, inhuman sadist.
Kidnapped girl – from a dysfunctional family, she was not looking for, which gave the criminal the opportunity to abuse, beat, rape her. Later Castro kidnapped two more girls. Michelle becomes their friend and sister, helping them to survive the horrors of captivity, which lasted for many years.
The film was based on the memories of the victim, and she noted such a striking resemblance between Raymond Cruz and the rapist that she was even afraid to meet him and communicate with him during the filming process.
Colonia
- IMDB Rating – 7.1
- Genre: Drama, Biography, History
- Production: Germany, France, Luxembourg, UK, USA / 2015
- Budget: $14,000,000
- Worldwide box office receipts: $3,621,046
- Director: Florian Gallenberger
- Starring: Emma Watson, Daniel Brühl, Mikael Nyqvist, Richenda Carey, Vicky Krieps, Jeanne Werner, Julian Ovenden, August Zirner, Martin Wuttke, Nicholas Barsoff
A couple from Germany arrive in Chile during a political coup. The husband, Daniel, a photographer, finds himself in the hands of the secret services and is tortured before being sent to a colony, officially considered a charity organization called Dignidad. It is run there by a former Nazi, now believed to be a preacher.
Paul Schaefer forces the flock to exhausting labor and conducts experiments on people. Daniel’s wife, Lena, is on the trail. For the sake of saving her lover, she voluntarily joins Dignidad, knowing full well that no one has managed to leave the colony yet.
The movie is based on real events that took place in the 70s of the last century.
Emma Watson became interested in the project because of the non-trivial plot, where a woman saves a man – usually the opposite happens.
The Call
- IMDB Rating – 6.7
- Genre: Thriller, Crime, Drama
- Production: USA / 2013
- Budget: $13,000,000
- Worldwide Box Office: $68,572,631
- Director: Brad Anderson
- Starring: Halle Berry, Abigail Breslin, Morris Chestnut, Michael Eklund, Michael Imperioli, David Otunga, Justina Machado, Jose Zúñiga, Roma Maffia, Evy Thompson
Jordan Turner works at a 911 call center that receives a lot of frivolous calls. But one day she gets a call from a girl whose apartment has been broken into by a maniac. Jordan’s mistake during the conversation costs the caller her life, and the list of serial victims is growing.
After a while, Jordan is reached by a girl named Casey, who finds herself in the trunk of the kidnapper’s car. The police mobilize forces to save the victim, and Jordan actively participates in the operation. After all, when the heroine managed to talk to the kidnapper, she realized that this is the same maniac.
The script for the film was written after watching an interview with a rescue operator and visiting a call center.
During filming, which lasted less than a month, Halle Berry suffered a head injury and Evi Thompson suffered a broken tooth.
Bad Samaritan
- IMDB Rating – 6.5
- Genre: Horror, Thriller, Crime
- Production: USA / 2017
- Worldwide box office receipts: $4,623,836
- Director: Dean Devlin
- Starring: David Tennant, Robert Sheehan, Kerry Condon, Carlito Olivero, Jacqueline Byers, Tracy Heggins, Rob Nagle, Lorraine Bar, David Meyers
Two guys have been successfully robbing the homes of the rich for a long time. They waited for them in the parking lot of an elite restaurant, after which they freely plundered in their mansions. They had enough time, as the owners were in no hurry and enjoyed delicious dishes with pleasure.
One day after penetrating the territory of the next object thieves find a prisoner, firmly chained with the help of chains. In their attempts to save the unfortunate one, they themselves become potential victims of the merciless monster.
In the plot of the movie, images and figurines of horses are often found in Kyle’s house. This is a reference to his first kill – a foal.
12 Years a Slave
- IMDB Rating – 8.1
- Genre: Drama, Biography, History
- Production: USA, UK / 2013
- Budget: $20,000,000
- Worldwide Box Office: $187,733,202
- Director: Steve McQueen
- Starring: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Lupita Nyong’o, Sarah Paulson, Benedict Cumberbatch, Brad Pitt, Paul Dano, Paul Giamatti, Elfrey Woodard, Edepero Oduye
Solomon Northup was happily married and considered a successful man. He had a good job, but one day he received an unusual offer – a more attractive position with a good income, but it required moving to Washington.
After brief deliberation, the candidate agrees, but almost immediately after arrival he finds himself kidnapped. For many years he will have to live as a slave, living a miserable existence and serving various owners.
The movie is based on real events that happened to Solomon Northup and described in his memoirs.
Into the Labyrinth
- IMDB Rating – 5.7
- Genre: Thriller, Detective
- Production: Italy / 2019
- Worldwide box office receipts: $2,517,731
- Director: Donato Carrisi
- Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Tony Servillo, Valentina Belle, Vinicio Marchioni, Kaciaryna Shulga, Orlando Sink, Filippo Dini, Sergio Grossini, Carla Cassola, Luis Niekko
Samantha wakes up with an injured limb in a strange windowless room and is completely disoriented. Her leg is broken and her memory refuses to reconstruct events of the recent past. From the words of a criminal psychologist, the victim learns that she was kidnapped almost a decade and a half ago.
The patient’s subconscious mind carefully hides information about the criminal, and the attempt to get closer to the mystery turns into a race with obstacles. Each clue received may bring her closer to finding the maniac or turn into another trap.
The director made the movie based on a book of his own authorship. By the way, the denouement of the plot is indirectly hinted at by the Bunny Bunny comic book shown in passing.
Den skyldige
- IMDB Rating – 7.5
- Genre: Thriller, Drama, Crime
- Production: Denmark / 2017
- Worldwide Box Office: $4,598,051
- Director: Gustav Møller
- Starring: Jakob Cedergren, Jessica Dinnage, Omar Shargawi, Johan Olsen, Jakob Ulrik Lohmann, Katinka Evers-Jansen, Jeanette Lindböck, Simon Bennebjörg, Laura Brault, Morten Suurballe
Asgera Holma works in a rescue service, as he has recently decided to leave the police force. He receives a call almost at the end of his shift, and the caller is a kidnapped woman named Iben. Unknown persons take the victim away against her will in a car, and she has small children at home.
The employee manages to quickly find out the necessary information, and the connection is suddenly cut off. The man takes the situation close and can not remain indifferent, so he intends to help the kidnapped with the help of any means.
In an interview, Jakob Cedergren revealed that the filming of the thriller lasted only 13 days.
Cut Off
- IMDB Rating – 6.5
- Genre: Detective, thriller, crime
- Production: Germany / 2018
- Worldwide box office receipts: $1,228,051
- Director: Christian Alwart
- Starring: Moritz Bleibtreu, Jasna Fritzi Bauer, Lars Eidinger, Fahri Ogün Yardim, Enno Hesse, Christian Kuchenbuch, Urs Jukker, Barbara Prakopenka, Stephanie Amarelle
Paul Herzfeld works as a medical examiner and has seen many strange things in his life. One day he finds a note with his daughter’s phone number in the head of a dead woman. The girl was kidnapped by unknown people, and for her release the man must find Eric.
Linda finds the body of a dead man, on whose T-shirt is written a similar name. The maniac begins a dangerous game with victims, forcing them to follow his instructions. To save the hostage, the couple will have to solve many clever riddles and understand the true motives of the criminal.
The script of the thriller is based on the novel of the same name, and one of the authors of the book – medical specialist Tsokos, was present on the set and together with his medical colleagues advised the film crew.
You Were Never Really Here
- IMDB Rating – 6.8
- Genre: Thriller, Drama, Detective, Crime
- Production: UK, France, USA / 2017
- Worldwide box office receipts: $9,360,514
- Director: Lynne Ramsey
- Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Ekaterina Samsonova, Alex Manette, John Dohmen, Judith Anne Roberts, Alessandro Nivola, Dante Pereira-Olson, Vinicius Damasseno, Neo Randall, Frank Pando
The police try to find a blonde teenage girl, but the efforts are in vain. Her father is considered a rich and influential businessman who has been involved in politics for a long time. He hires a former FBI officer, hoping for his experience and professionalism.
There is a version that the child is in a brothel for minors. The captive manages to rescue, but behind the owners of the illegal business are corrupt high-ranking officials. They do not intend to lose a profitable business, so they are ready to destroy all obstacles and obstacles.
The film took an honorable place among the best films in the kidnapping theme. It was presented at the Cannes Film Festival in an unfinished form, but won a seven-minute standing ovation, as well as awards for the screenplay and Best Actor.
Trafficked
- IMDB Rating – 5.7
- Genre: Thriller, Drama
- Production: USA / 2017
- US box office receipts: $19,698
- Director: Will Wallace
- Starring: Ashley Judd, Sean Patrick Flanery, Elizabeth Rehm, Brian Thompson, Anne Archer, Jason London, Efren Ramirez, Courtney Gaines, Madison Wolfe, Patrick Duffy
In the center of a terrible story will be three girls from different parts of the world, who are united by one misfortune. A Nigerian, an Indian and an American will be kidnapped and turned into living commodities. They will be redirected by traders to Texas, where they are destined to play the role of sex slaves.
The captives will make a desperate attempt and try to escape, which will require incredible courage. Disobedience is severely punished, and the price for wanting freedom is too high.
The screenwriter was inspired by the acclaimed bestseller by S. Kara. Kara’s Sexual Slavery Today: An Insider’s View.
The Frozen Ground
- IMDB Rating – 6.4
- Genre: Thriller, Crime
- Production: USA / 2011
- Budget: $27,220,000
- Worldwide Box Office: $5,617,460
- Director: Scott Walker
- Starring: Nicolas Cage, John Cusack, Vanessa Ann Hudgens, Radha Mitchell, Jodi Lyn O’Keefe, Michael McGrady, Kathryn LaNasa, Dean Norris, Kevin Dunn, Gina Mantegna.
Until recently, Robert Hansen was considered by those around him to be a decent family man. The man owned a small bakery and hunted in his spare time. His reputation would be called into question when 17-year-old Cindy Paulson filed charges against him. She calls him a maniac who has kidnapped and murdered dozens of women.
The girl only miraculously escaped the massacre, and the victim has no intention of retracting her statement. The police will have to sort out the complicated case and find out who of the participants of the story is telling the truth.
Nicolas Cage was initially considered for the role of Hansen, but decided that it would be better for him to play a detective. Interestingly, the actors who played the main roles, met before on the set: in the movie “Air Jail” Nicholas played a criminal, and John Cusack – detective.
All the Money in the World
- IMDB Rating – 6.8
- Genre: Biography, Thriller, Crime, Children, Drama
- Production: USA, Italy, UK, China / 2017
- Budget: $50,000,000
- Worldwide Box Office: $56,996,304
- Director: Ridley Scott
- Starring: Michelle Williams, Christopher Plummer, Mark Wahlberg, Romain Duris, Timothy Hutton, Charlie Plummer, Charlie Shotwell, Andrew Bakan, Marco Leonardi, Giuseppe Bonifati
In Rome there is a high profile event when unknown people kidnap the grandson of one of the richest men on the planet. Jean Paul Getty is known for his incredible avarice, so there is a categorical refusal to the criminals. The man does not respond to the tears and requests of his mother, who begs to save her son from certain death.
The only hope for the guy becomes Chase Fletcher, working for many years in the security service of the billionaire. He will have to unravel a chain of complicated events and get on the trail of the real kidnappers.
Angelina Jolie and Natalie Portman refused to shoot in a movie about a kidnapping based on real events because of busyness in other films.
A Lonely Place to Die
- IMDB Rating – 6.2
- Genre: Action, Thriller, Crime, Adventure
- Production: UK / 2011
- Budget: $4,000,000
- Worldwide Box Office: $442,550
- Director: Julian Gilbey
- Starring: Melissa George, Karel Roden, Alec Newman, Edward Speliers, Kate Magowan, Harry Sweeney, Holly Boyd, Douglas Russell, Sean Harris
Five climbers are about to conquer an impregnable Scottish highland, which will require a lot of courage and teamwork. On their way to the summit, they discover a teenage girl who has inexplicably found herself among the snowy mountains.
For many kilometers spread lifeless expanses without signs of people and the benefits of civilizations. Travelers take the little girl under guardianship, but soon find themselves drawn into a dangerous game with kidnappers. Criminals do not intend to let their victim go and leave alive witnesses.
The festival shown in the movie is an actual event held annually on December 31 in Scotland.
Alpha Dog
- IMDB Rating – 6.9
- Genre: Thriller, Drama, Crime, Biography
- Production: USA, Germany / 2005
- Budget: $42,000,000
- Worldwide Box Office: $32,145,115
- Director: Nick Cassavetes
- Starring: Emile Hirsch, Anton Yelchin, Justin Timberlake, Ben Foster, Sean Hatosy, Bruce Willis, Sharon Stone, Olivia Wilde, Heather Wallquist, Amanda Seyfried.
Teenager Johnny Trulove lives in an elite Los Angeles neighborhood and leads a gang of drug dealers. The reckless juvenile delinquents care about nothing but money and fun. They live their lives with alcohol, drugs and promiscuous relationships, without thinking about tomorrow.
One day one of the ringleader’s accomplices, Jake, fails in a big deal, and Johnny kidnaps his younger brother. Indifferent to everything but green papers and his own life, the immoral gangster is afraid of only one thing – to go to jail. So he decides to get rid of the kidnapped teenager.
The premiere of the movie was postponed for a year due to the capture of a real-life criminal who became the prototype of the main character in the story.
The Heineken Kidnapping
- IMDB Rating – 6.5
- Genre: Thriller, Crime, History
- Production: Netherlands / 2011
- Budget: €4,500,000
- Worldwide Box Office: $3,487,309
- Director: Maarten Treuniet
- Starring: Rutger Hauer, Reinu Scholten van Asshat, Gijs Neibre, Teine Quilbur, Cornel Evers, Truus te Selle, Marjolein Koening, Sally Harmsen, Menno van Beekum, Ton Kas.
A group of not the most respectable young men want to earn a large sum of money quickly and without much effort. Honest ways do not appeal to these guys: it is long, complicated and uninteresting. After thinking it over, they decide to pull off the scam of the century – to kidnap a rich and influential man, and demand huge sums of money in return for his life.
The bandits think out the plan of kidnapping to the smallest detail and easily realize it. The hostage is in the hands of criminals, his relatives will soon bring the cherished ransom. But is the kidnapped man really playing by their rules?
Curiously, the police were unable to find and return all the money that had fallen into the hands of the real extortionists who served as prototypes for the characters in the movie. More than ten million euros disappeared without a trace.
3096 Days
- IMDB Rating – 6.5
- Genre: Drama, Crime, Biography
- Production: Germany / 2013
- Worldwide box office receipts: $6,677,474
- Director: Sherry Horman
- Starring: Antonia Campbell-Hughes, Toure Lindhardt, Amelia Pidgeon, Trine Durholm, Dirbla Molloy, Röland Wiesnekker, Ellen Schwiers, Ernie Mangold, Sebastian Weber, Tina Grave
The events of the movie are set in 1998 in Austria. Ten-year-old Natasha Kampusch went to school and did not return. The child was searched for a long time, the whole town was disturbed by the mysterious disappearance of a little schoolgirl. She was never found.
The girl was kidnapped by a former technician named Wolfgang Prikopil. He carefully planned the crime, prepared in advance a place for the victim in the basement of his own house. The maniac created all the necessary conditions so that the captive did not get out. Over time, the villain began to use the girl as a servant and mistress. In the captivity of an unstable psychopath, the girl spent a long 3096 days.
The actress, who played the young Natasha, was 30, and for the role she needed to lose three dozen pounds to look more like a subtle and exhausted teenage girl.
Cellular
- IMDB Rating – 6.5
- Genre: Action, Thriller, Crime
- Production: USA, Germany / 2004
- Budget: $25,000,000
- Worldwide Box Office: $56,051,920
- Director: David R. Ellis
- Starring: Kim Basinger, Chris Evans, Jason Statham, William H. Macy, Noah Emmerich, Adam Taylor Gordon, Richard Bergey, Valerie Cruz, Jessica Biel, Eric Etebari.
Jessica becomes a victim of dangerous criminals: she is kidnapped, taken to an unknown destination and locked in an attic. She doesn’t understand why she was kidnapped, who these people are, and where she is. The only thing she has is a phone broken by the intruders, which barely works.
The frightened woman tries to dial some numbers on the broken phone and succeeds in making a call. A stranger named Ryan picks up the phone. The woman’s voice, gripped by fear and panic, begs the guy for help. The confused young man doubts the veracity of Jessica’s words, until he hears at the other end of the wire how she is tortured and covered with threats. Now he must have time to save the unfortunate hostage, because the connection at any moment can break…
The cell phone shown in the movie is a Nokia 6600 model.
Pet
- IMDB Rating – 5.7
- Genre: Horror, Thriller
- Production: Spain, USA / 2016
- Worldwide box office receipts: $22,003
- Director: Carles Torrens
- Starring: Dominic Monaghan, Xenia Solo, Jennette McCardie, Devon McDonald, Nathan Parsons, Janet Song, Gary J. Tunnicliffe, John Ross Bowie, Sean Blakemore
An animal shelter worker’s name is Seth. His life is boring and monotonous: the guy only goes to work and comes home. But one day he meets a girl with whom he was in love at school, and remembers about former feelings. Very quickly his love for Holly turns into an obsession, and Seth persistently tries to win her favor.
All the attempts of a man seized by passion are in vain. And he solves the problem in a strange and terrifying way: he sneaks into the house of his beloved, injects her with a shock dose of tranquilizer, brings her to the shelter and puts her in a cage for dogs. Now the resourceful hero-lover and his new pet are sure to be together all the time.
To prepare well for the role and to get into the image of the victim, Xenia Solo actually lived in a cage for a month.
Chained
- IMDB Rating – 6.4
- Genre: Horror, Thriller, Crime
- Production: Canada / 2011
- Worldwide box office receipts: $77,839
- Director: Jennifer Lynch
- Starring: Vincent D’Onofrio, Eamon Farren, Evan Bird, Julia Ormond, Conor Leslie, Jake Weber, Gina Phillips, Daniel Maslany, Benjamin DeWalt, Lyndon Bray.
Bob is an insane maniac who commits terrible crimes pretending to be a cab driver. The next victims of the killer are an eight-year-old boy Tim and his mother. The ruthless psychopath kills the unfortunate woman in front of her son, and then forces the boy to bury his mother. He then puts the child on a chain and keeps him imprisoned for years.
Bob turns Tim into a slave, forced to bury the murdered and be an accessory to gruesome crimes. After a while, the maniac cab driver tries to make a follower out of his puppet, who will continue on this path drenched in blood.
By the way, the director of kidnapping movies can be seen briefly on camera: she hosts a cooking show.
The Skin I Live In
- IMDB Rating – 7.6
- Genre: Thriller, Crime, Drama
- Production: Spain, USA / 2011
- Budget: $13,000,000
- Worldwide Box Office: $33,678,406
- Director: Pedro Almodovar
- Starring: Antonio Banderas, Elena Anaya, Marisa Paredes, Han Cornet, Roberto Alamo, Eduard Fernandez, Jose Luis Gomez, Blanca Suarez, Susy Sanchez, Barbara Lenny.
For many years, world-famous plastic surgeon Robert Ledgard has been trying to create artificial skin. He is not allowed to experiment on humans, so the scientist conducts experiments on mice.
However, in the far room of his house lives a girl Vera, dressed in a strange elastic suit. The white fabric covers even her face. Vera is locked up almost all the time, and food and everything she needs to live are handed to her by elevator. The girl’s presence in the doctor’s house is kept in the strictest secrecy, and only the maid Marilia can approach her.
The director and Antonio Banderas, who played the lead role, collaborated again on the set after a twenty-year hiatus. It was Almodóvar who first discovered the young actor’s talent on the big screen.
The Neighbor
- IMDB Rating – 5.8
- Genre: Thriller, Crime
- Production: UK / 2016
- Worldwide box office receipts: $164,348
- Director: Marcus Dunstan
- Starring: Josh Stewart, Bill Ingvall, Alexandra Essoe, Ronnie Jean Blevins, Luke Edwards, Melissa Bolona, Skipp Saddat, Mason Guccione, David Callaway, Jacqueline Fleming
John makes money selling drugs and is not on the best of terms with the law. But he loves his wife Rosie very much and wants to live with her in peace and security. The lovers decide to realize the last deal, get the money and leave for a new life.
While the man is engaged in business, his wife spends days on end alone, watching the neighbor in the telescope. One day an ordinary-looking neighboring old man comes to visit the young people. And after that Rosie disappears without a trace. John rushes to look for her, and the search leads him to the house of the mysterious old man.
The movie about kidnapping by maniacs was the third of the movies where director Dunstan and actor Stewart worked together.
Kidnap
- IMDB Rating – 5.9
- Genre: Thriller, Crime
- Production: USA / 2015
- Budget: $21,000,000
- Worldwide Box Office: $34,814,102
- Director: Luis Prieto
- Starring: Halle Berry, Sage Correa, Chris McGinn, Lew Temple, Jason Winston George, Christopher Berry, Arron Shiver, Curtis Bedford, Carmella Riley, Bryce Fischer
Carla is a single mom. She has only her son Frankie, and she tries very hard to be a good mom. The woman works as a waitress, and all her free time is given to her beloved child. The small but happy family lives quietly and amicably, but one day the boy is kidnapped.
Right in front of the mother’s eyes the child is taken away by an unknown woman. Carla runs through the streets of the city, desperately trying to find her son, but she can’t even imagine where the intruder has taken him. The unhappy mother goes to the police for help, but no one hurries to look for the missing child. Realizing that there is no time to waste, Carla herself fearlessly rushes in pursuit of the kidnappers.
Filming was completed in 2014, but due to the movie company’s financial woes, the movie rights were sold and didn’t premiere until 2017.
Oldboy
- IMDB Rating – 5.7
- Genre: Thriller, Drama, Detective, Action Movie
- Production: USA / 2013
- Budget: $30,000,000
- Worldwide Box Office: $5,186,767
- Director: Spike Lee
- Starring: Josh Brolin, Sharlto Copley, Elizabeth Olsen, Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Imperioli, Pom Klementieff, James Ranson, Max Casella, Linda Emond, Elvis Nolasco
Joseph Dusette has all the ingredients of happiness: a caring wife, a wonderful daughter, a prestigious job and a decent income. But overnight he is deprived of it. Once after a failed deal, the man was very upset, drank too much and fell asleep.
He woke up already locked in an unknown place, from which it is impossible to get out. Joseph is fed and given everything he needs to live, but they do not explain why he was imprisoned. Twenty years pass and the man is released. Now his goal is to find out who deprived him of his freedom and why, and to find his family.
Curiously, the performer of the main role did not know how the story would end. She was really shocked when she saw the final scene.
The Captive
- IMDB Rating – 5.7
- Genre: Thriller
- Production: Ukraine / 2013
- Director: Vladimir Lert
- Starring: Olga Oleksiy, Sergey Radchenko, Alexander Kobzar, Vitaly Ivanchenko, Alexei Petukhov, Sofia Pisman, Igor Arnautov, Zoya Baranovskaya, Inna Belikova, Alexander Girich, Yana Sobolevska, Maxim Stetskov
Elena Diaghileva dreams of career growth. Sometimes she has to choose between her conscience and the desired goal. The price of success is the reciprocal feelings for the courtship of the son of the director of the company. And this is with a living husband Ivan, a man who most of all appreciates the comfort of home! But his majesty chance interferes in the events: Lena is kidnapped by a long-wanted maniac Rodion, who sees in the beautiful girl his ex-wife, a calculating careerist.
Being a hostage and listening to the kidnapper’s speeches, Lena discovers that her life is very similar to the family drama of this obsessed man. Will she be able to convince him of her remorse? Will she be able to awaken something human in the soul of a madman? And will Ivan have time to help his wife?
The movie is presented by Ukrainian cinematography and became the best role of actor Alexander Kobzar.
Captifs
- IMDB Rating – 5.3
- Genre: Horror, thriller
- Production: France / 2010
- Director: Yann Gozlan
- Starring: Zoé Felix, Eric Saven, Arie Elmaleh, Ivan Franek, Igor Skreblin, Philippe Krajak, Margot Gugnier, Goran Kostic, Jana Bittnerova, Sasha Mijovic
Carol suffered severe psychological trauma as a child when she discovered that her friend had been mauled by a dog. The grown-up girl gets a job as a doctor and starts participating in a humanitarian expedition. At the end of volunteering, a group of volunteers goes to France.
However, unforeseen troubles await the company on the road: because of a roadblock they have to slightly change the route. The decision made turned out to be fatal for the group. When the road, it would seem, has come to an end, Carol and her colleagues are captured. How will turn the fate of the heroes in the movie about the kidnapping of people by gangsters for organs, what will they have to endure?
Although the movie is positioned as based on real events, the facts are distorted: the Serbs were victims, not torturers.
The Tall Man
- IMDB Rating – 5.9
- Genre: Horror, Thriller, Drama, Crime, Detective
- Production: Canada, France / 2012
- Budget: $18,200,000
- Worldwide Box Office: $7,462,847
- Director: Pascal Logier
- Starring: Jessica Biel, Jodelle Ferland, Colleen Wheeler, Stephen McHattie, Jacob Davis, William B. Davis, Eve Harlow, Samantha Ferris, Janet Wright, Garvin Sanford.
In the small town of Cold Rock for a long time there are horrifying events. Many of the residents have missing children, almost everyone believes in the legend of the tall man. Nurse Julia has long lived in Cold Rock and does not believe in folk tales. However, life decided to give an unusual gift to a woman.
One rainy night Julia is awakened by strange sounds. Going downstairs, she discovers the dark figure of a man taking her son away. Now the mother has no choice but to rush to the search and get to the bottom of the ancient legend. Will the girl be able to find the child and find out what happened to the other children?
Critics noticed a mistake: Julie manages to open the door of the police car from the inside and escape, but modern police cars are designed to open only from the outside.
The Wedding Guest
- IMDB Rating – 5.8
- Genre: Thriller
- Production: USA, UK / 2018
- US box office receipts: $386,166
- Director: Michael Winterbottom
- Starring Dev Patel, Nish Nathwani, Walid Akhtar, Emmanuel Singh, Meherban Singh
Samira grew up in a religious family that strictly monitored her behavior and upbringing. According to tradition, a girl must marry a man she does not know when she comes of age. The main thing is that he was chosen by the family. Samira did not know or like the groom, and she was incredibly sad.
When a masked man showed up at the wedding and took the bride away with threats and weapons, the guests were not surprised. But things didn’t really go according to plan. The kidnapping was organized by a secret lover who had loved her for a long time.
Curiously, director Michael Winterbottom directed the movie from his own script.
10×10
- IMDB Rating – 5.1
- Genre: Thriller, Drama
- Production: UK / 2018
- Worldwide box office: $68,260
- Director: Susie Ewing
- Starring: Kelly Reilly, Luke Evans, Noel Clarke, Olivia Chenery, Jill Winternitz, Jason Mazza, Sky Lucia Degruttola, Benjamin Hotges
Everything was good in Lewis’s life: a beloved wife, a growing son. The death of his wife, who did not survive a simple surgical intervention, radically changed the life of the hero. He could not believe that the operation was without error, which led to death, and all the blame blamed on the nurse Katy, assisting the surgeon.
From that moment the distraught widower starts following the girl, noting all the details of the schedule, and memorizing the smallest aspects of her life. Having collected enough information he decides to kidnap her, and takes Katty to a country house, where he places her in a prearranged room, where he intends to keep the victim. Not realizing what to expect, the nurse tries to escape, but such attempts can lead to death…
The house used in the film was featured on the British Grand Designs program on Channel 4, and it documented its construction from start to finish.
