The Captive | |
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Film poster with original title
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Directed by | Atom Egoyan |
Produced by |
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Written by |
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Starring | |
Music by | Mychael Danna |
Cinematography | Paul Sarossy |
Edited by |
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Distributed by | A24 |
Release date
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Running time
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113 minutes |
Country | Canada |
Language | English |
Box office | $1,075,178 |
The Captive, formerly Queen of the Night and Captives, is a 2014 Canadian thriller film directed by Atom Egoyan and co-written with David Fraser. The film stars Ryan Reynolds, Scott Speedman, Rosario Dawson, Mireille Enos, Kevin Durand, and Alexia Fast. It was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or in the main competition section at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival. The film was released in select theaters and on demand on December 12, 2014.
The film has a nonlinear presentation and only context differentiates the current scenes from the flashbacks. Additionally, although the film takes place over eight years, all of the scenes take place during winter for dramatic effect.
At a police station in Niagara Falls, Ontario, new detective Jeffrey Cornwall is sitting down for a job interview with Nicole Dunlop who works in the Internet Child Exploitation Unit. He recoils in disgust after seeing the images related to open cases and Nicole tells him that these are the images he will have to see every day. Meanwhile, Niagara Falls resident Matthew Lane picks his nine year old daughter Cassandra up from the arena after her figure skating practice. He comments that her wearing one white skate and one black skate is an unnecessary gimmick given her skill. On the way back, Matthew stops to pick up pie, leaving Cassandra in the car. Minutes later he returns to find her missing and calls out to no success. He reports the abduction to the police station where Dunlop and Cornwall are assigned to the case. Cassandra's mother Tina Lane arrives and breaks down in a fit of fury directed at Matthew.
Eight years later, Matthew and Tina are estranged while Nicole and Jeffrey are romantically involved. Tina still provides details to the police but Matthew, initially a target of suspicion himself, has become a vigilante in the search for Cassandra. Cassandra is in the home of a child pornographer named Mika who has installed remote cameras in the rooms where Tina works as a chambermaid. Although he leaves the house to work, the fear that he will harm her parents prevents Cassandra from escaping. Cassandra thanks him for keeping her alive even though she has grown too old to be attractive to a pedophile. A break in the case comes when Cornwall finds recent photos of Cassandra online. More begin to appear as Mika has her tell stories on camera, hoping that they will help lure in younger vulnerable children. Posing as one such child, Cornwall and Dunlop succeed in tricking a child molester named Willy to reveal himself. The arrests of Willy and others in his group catapult Nicole Dunlop into the public eye. Mika visits Willy in prison and urges him not to take any more deals for cooperation. Willy says he will only comply if someone kidnaps Dunlop and forces her to reveal whatever details of her past may have inspired her to pursue child protection. Mika dismisses the request as unfeasible.