Captive State
Focus Features | Release Date: March 15, 2019 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
54
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 19 Critic Reviews
Positive:
7
Mixed:
8
Negative:
4
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
VarietyJoe LeydonMar 15, 2019
Although the TV ads and other promotional material appear to promise a megaplex-ready thrill ride about space invaders and rebellious Earthlings, this rigorously intelligent, cunningly inventive, and impressively suspenseful drama plays more like a classic tale about a disparate group of resistance fighters united in a guerrilla campaign against an occupying force. Read full review
85
IGNRosie KnightMar 14, 2019
An atmospheric, affecting science fiction flick with big ideas, slick execution and a message that will stick with you. Read full review
84
Paste MagazineOktay Ege Kozak Mar 18, 2019
It’s a shame that its studio didn’t more heavily market Captive State. Smart, layered, tense, well-executed sci-fi like this should be nurtured in movie theaters. Read full review
80
Film ThreatAlan NgMar 28, 2019
Rather than an over-reliance on special effects, Captive State thrives on the riveting performances from specifically from John Goodman. This is a cat-and-mouse game between the authoritarian pawns of the aliens with immense technological power and the resistance hiding in plain sight. This is one of those films that will have you thinking in the end. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleMatthew MonagleMar 18, 2019
At its best, Captive State blends imaginative science fiction with the caliber of detail-oriented espionage you might find in an Alan J. Pakula film. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperMar 15, 2019
Though Captive State has plenty of action, it’s not a blood-and-guts sci-fi thriller. It aims for a more cerebral, social-commentary approach. Read full review
63
Slant MagazinePat BrownMar 15, 2019
The film might have better performed if it consisted of more than a smattering of good but relatively isolated ideas. Read full review
60
Rolling StoneBilge EbiriMar 19, 2019
That’s not quite enough to make Captive State great science-fiction, but it ensures that the film lingers in the mind longer than it takes to run the end credits. Read full review
60
The GuardianBenjamin LeeMar 14, 2019
Captive State is imperfectly constructed, at times frustratingly so, but it’s trying, doggedly, to do something different and given the bland efficiency of so many wide-releasing sci-fi movies, that’s hard to fault. Read full review
50
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliMar 15, 2019
Captive State is a messy, incomplete affair. Attempts to assemble it into a workable package in the editing room didn’t work, so we’re left with a weird cross between "District 9" and "The Battle of Algiers" that doesn’t do either of those apparent inspirations justice. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubA.A. Dowd Mar 15, 2019
It’s not unreasonable to expect something like excitement out of a story about freedom fighters plotting to take back the planet. Captive State does not clear that fairly low bar. Read full review
42
IndieWireMichael NordineMar 15, 2019
Embedded in all this is a would-be message about those who trade freedom for security, the human spirit, and so on and so forth, all of which is too muddled to register with the intended force. Captive State is many things at once — or at least it’s trying to be — and every match it lights along the way is quickly snuffed out. Read full review
42
The Film StageJordan RaupMar 14, 2019
The groundwork is laid for a rich playground of political intrigue and sci-fi thrills, but Captive State is continually hobbled by acting more like a mouthpiece for the state we are in rather than a memorable genre outing with characters we can root for. Read full review
40
Los Angeles TimesGary GoldsteinMar 15, 2019
In Captive State aliens have taken over the world (as they will), but it’s the viewers stuck watching this messy, lugubrious sci-fi thriller who may feel like the ones being held captive. Read full review
40
New Orleans Times-PicayuneMike ScottMar 14, 2019
While director Rupert Wyatt's film has a handful of things going for it -- alien invaders, bursts of action, sociopolitical subtext, a stern-faced John Goodman -- it is missing one key element: a soul. Read full review
38
RogerEbert.comMark DujsikMar 15, 2019
Appearances from aliens are sparse in co-writer/director Rupert Wyatt's movie. Thrills of almost any kind, on the other hand, are completely absent. Read full review
38
Movie NationRoger MooreMar 15, 2019
Captive State might have achieved some sort of screen satisfaction had the straight-forward-with-obvious-twist script not been hacked into tiny image bites, rendering huge passages of it a confused visual mush. Read full review
30
The Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckMar 15, 2019
Visually murky, choppily edited and lacking both narrative clarity and well-defined characterizations, Captive State is a deeply frustrating viewing experience. It seems to be straining mightily for a future cult status which it doesn't deserve. Read full review
25
TheWrapCarlos AguilarMar 16, 2019
Lacking poignancy at every level, what could have been a moderately exciting, if unoriginal, occupation thriller instead becomes a muddled and dispirited disappointment from the director who once earned high praise for “Rise of the Planet of the Apes.” Read full review
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