Kidnap
Aviron Pictures | Release Date: August 4, 2017 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
44
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 26 Critic Reviews
Positive:
8
Mixed:
10
Negative:
8
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
ObserverRex ReedAug 4, 2017
Berry knows how to seize the center spot and hold on tight. In Kidnap, she gets quite an exhausting workout, and so does the audience. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterJustin LoweAug 3, 2017
Spanish filmmaker Luis Prieto, who directed the 2012 remake of Nicolas Winding Refn’s Pusher, adroitly leverages Berry’s familiar face and onscreen persona to consistently escalate tension, as DP Flavio Labiano and editor Avi Youabian construct their shots and action sequences to enable her to totally own the screen. Read full review
70
Screen DailyTim GriersonAug 3, 2017
To be sure, Kidnap is unadulterated B-movie nonsense, but when it’s delivered with this level of trashy gusto, the pleasures are plentiful. Read full review
70
VarietyPeter DebrugeAug 3, 2017
The implication is that Berry’s character, Karla Dyson, isn’t like other parents, and yet, what makes Kidnap so compelling is that she behaves exactly the way you think you might under the same circumstances. Read full review
70
TheWrapAlonso DuraldeAug 3, 2017
Between Berry’s committed performance and the film’s brisk cocktail of dread and adrenaline, Kidnap makes for a rousing, if ridiculous, ride. Read full review
67
Entertainment WeeklyJoey NolfiAug 3, 2017
While a quick payday might be the case for Berry on Kidnap (she also serves as a producer), the Oscar winner earns her way to the bank in this mildly titillating (albeit unsophisticated) thriller, which bears a striking resemblance to her 2013 flick "The Call." Read full review
63
Washington PostPat PaduaAug 3, 2017
Kidnap is a solid and economical piece of filmmaking. It just goes to show: A big budget isn’t necessary to make a big impression. Read full review
63
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperAug 3, 2017
As Karla turns into Super Mom, brushing off multiple car accidents and more than one attempt on her life, Kidnap provides some easy applause-getting moments but grows increasingly over-the-top. Read full review
60
ScreenCrushE. Oliver WhitneyAug 5, 2017
There's certainly a thrill to watching a single woman lead a movie where she's chasing down criminals like an unstoppable killing machine. Is Kidnap inane? Totally. But fun? You bet. Read full review
60
Time OutMichael GingoldAug 4, 2017
Kidnap may strain plausibility, but it's no more absurd than "Taken," and it’s a kick to watch Karla, a woman with no particular set of skills, become a capable warrior based on pure maternal ferocity. Read full review
60
New Orleans Times-PicayuneMike ScottAug 3, 2017
The bottom line is that, while Kidnap isn't without its hiccups, it's another fun bit of Berry badassery -- and certainly better than the film's rocky history to this point might suggest. Read full review
50
The New York TimesTeo BugbeeAug 3, 2017
The greatest strength of Kidnap is that it casts the maternal instinct as a primordial will to enact violence. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleDavid LewisAug 3, 2017
This is a film that keeps it simple: Don’t cross a mother, or she’ll hunt you down. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsAug 3, 2017
Kidnap probably could’ve played into its feverish, violent, trashy side more aggressively. As is, something seems to be holding it back from its own monstrously exploitative premise. Read full review
50
Slant MagazineDerek SmithAug 2, 2017
Ultimately, Kidnap is an efficient vehicle for the delivery of some lean action that's frequently weakened by a scarcely whip-smart script. Read full review
50
Movie NationRoger MooreAug 1, 2017
It’s a dopey but pulse-pounding B-movie. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleDanielle WhiteAug 9, 2017
The plot of Kidnap is bizarre and frustrating. Read full review
40
New York Daily NewsJoe DziemianowiczAug 3, 2017
Berry, who’s been down a similar road before in “The Call,” brings grit, guts and tears. But all that’s not enough to break the monotony — or the preposterous conversations she has aloud with herself. Read full review
38
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliAug 4, 2017
It is possible to make a movie in which nearly the entire running length is a car chase. An example of how to do this is "Duel." An example of how not to do it is Kidnap. Read full review
38
The Seattle TimesMoira MacdonaldAug 3, 2017
Kidnap has a tossed-together sameness to it, like a salad made up only of tired lettuce. Read full review
38
Boston GlobePeter KeoughAug 2, 2017
Maybe if the filmmakers suggested that these villains were once children with mothers themselves, it might have made their crime, and the chase that ensues, less one-dimensional. Read full review
33
The A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyAug 3, 2017
Kidnap is an asinine child-abduction thriller spliced with a touch of the early Steven Spielberg TV movie "Duel," and the most likable thing about it is that it is utter, unabashed garbage. Read full review
30
New York Magazine (Vulture)Emily YoshidaAug 3, 2017
This is a low-stakes, no-frills, point-A-to-point-B crime thriller, taking inspiration from every parent’s worst nightmare, and pretty much nothing else. Read full review
30
Los Angeles TimesKatie WalshAug 3, 2017
For all of Berry’s breathless, screechy effort, Kidnap doesn’t contain any suspense or tension. Read full review
16
IndieWireDavid EhrlichAug 3, 2017
The Emoji Movie might have been a boring and brazenly cynical piece of corporate propaganda, but at least it had the courtesy to be offensive. Kidnap, on the other hand, doesn’t have the the courtesy to be much of anything. Read full review
12
RogerEbert.comGlenn KennyAug 4, 2017
Kidnap isn’t schlock, it’s garbage. Read full review
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