The Captive

When evidence emerges that a young girl (Alexia Fast) kidnapped eight years ago by a paedophile (Kevin Durand) may still be alive, a curious chain of events is set in motion. As special task force cops Rosario Dawson and Scott Speedman investigate, the girl's parents (Ryan Reynolds and Mireille Enos) suffer the trauma anew in very different ways. That description may make this sound like yet another take on the instantly emotive subject of child abduction in the vein of the Hugh Jackman vehicle Prisoners and BBC TV drama The Missing, but cult Canadian director Atom Egoyan customises the thriller chassis with his own peculiar preoccupations, welding on themes about voyeurism, grief and dysfunctional family life. It ought to work but somehow it doesn't. There's none of the lyricism that makes Egoyan's work so distinctive. Instead it feels like he's torn between trying to go mainstream and repeating old tricks. The cast valiantly struggle to do their best, but this is just a hot mess of movie.