Captive
Paramount Pictures | Release Date: September 18, 2015 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
36
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 19 Critic Reviews
Positive:
2
Mixed:
9
Negative:
8
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
70
Los Angeles TimesKatie WalshSep 17, 2015
Oyelowo and Mara's riveting, embodied performances rise above the material. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Brad WheelerSep 18, 2015
The film's police-procedural action is unimaginatively presented, but Oyelowo is compelling. Read full review
60
VarietyGeoff BerkshireSep 17, 2015
Although Captive largely succeeds as a two-hander, it stumbles in the minimal attempts to broaden the scope beyond Smith and Nichols’ time together. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterSheri LindenSep 17, 2015
Though much of the drama is clunky and flat, the taut, visceral performances by David Oyelowo and Kate Mara never err. Read full review
60
Screen DailyTom GraterSep 17, 2015
Convincing performances from David Oyelowo and Kate Mara – as an escaped killer and his drug addicted hostage – are the saving grace of Captive, a decent dramatic thriller somewhat weighed down by its mildly religious message. Read full review
50
RogerEbert.comMatt FagerholmSep 24, 2015
For a film supposedly about the transformative power of faith, Captive has very little to preach in that regard, apart from the importance of purchasing megachurch pastor Rick Warren’s hit book, The Purpose Driven Life. Read full review
50
Movie NationRoger MooreSep 22, 2015
Whatever power this piece of writing had over the two of them, Captive fails to capture the magic, hope or whatever made it a best seller. Read full review
42
The A.V. ClubBenjamin MercerSep 18, 2015
The leads acquit themselves relatively well here, hinting at the interesting character study that could have been, but by the end the only captive left is the viewer. Read full review
40
The GuardianMike McCahillSep 26, 2015
The actors are committed – Mara, generally waif-like, appears frail indeed – but there’s barely anything worth committing to. Read full review
40
The New York TimesNicolas RapoldSep 17, 2015
A credit-sequence television clip of Mr. Warren and the real Ms. Smith with Oprah Winfrey makes the entire movie feel like the strangest book infomercial in memory. Read full review
40
Arizona RepublicBarbara VanDenburghSep 17, 2015
Oyelowo and Mara try to bring humanity and tension to the testimonial thriller of two lost souls finding their way together, but they only succeed in bursts, hampered by marketing copy masquerading as dialogue. Read full review
38
New York PostSara StewartSep 18, 2015
For a story whose appeal hinges on the saving grace of getting a "purpose-driven life," this one's got remarkably little of it. Read full review
38
St. Louis Post-DispatchCalvin WilsonSep 17, 2015
Oyelowo and Mara achieve terrific chemistry. Perhaps they’ll work together again — in a better film. Read full review
33
The PlaylistRodrigo PerezSep 18, 2015
Largely inert and undramatic, what you're left with is a tedious sentiment: “by the grace of god” this horrible crisis ended without violence, explosives, or spark. Congratulations? Read full review
25
Entertainment WeeklyJoe McGovernSep 23, 2015
The thin story has been stretched like Silly Putty to feature-film length and the result is utterly see-through in its sledgehammer moralizing. Read full review
20
Austin ChronicleMarc SavlovSep 23, 2015
An odd mix, to be sure, but full-tilt performances from Mara, as meth-addicted, widowed mom-cum-kidnappee Ashley Smith, and Oyelowo, playing the stone-cold killer turned cornered kidnapper Brian Nichols, help this spiritual thriller rise (very slightly) above other, more hamfisted, heaven-friendly fare. Read full review
20
New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriSep 18, 2015
You’re left with no real catharsis — religious or emotional. And without that, Captive winds up building to a big nothing. Read full review
20
New York Daily NewsStephen Whitty Sep 18, 2015
For a movie about purpose, Captive never finds its own. Read full review
20
TheWrapJames RocchiSep 17, 2015
The film’s so inflated with moral importance that it becomes ridiculous, a Lifetime movie shoved into a cage and fattened with sermons and platitudes until it is ready to be served up cold and bland. Read full review
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