Hostage
Netflix | Release Date: August 21, 2025
CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
62
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 14 Critic Reviews
Positive:
7
Mixed:
6
Negative:
1

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
DeciderJoel KellerAug 21, 2025
Season 1 Review: Hostage is a solid political thriller made better by the performances of Suranne Jones and Julie Delpy, especially when they’re on screen together. Read full review
80
The GuardianLucy ManganAug 21, 2025
Season 1 Review: It’s a rollicking, propulsive and compulsive yarn that also manages to give two great parts to two women of a certain age then leaves them to get on with it as characters rather than symbols. Read full review
80
VarietyAramide TinubuAug 21, 2025
Season 1 Review: Despite some truly far-fetched storylines and one rather salacious twist, “Hostage” is certainly worth the ride. Read full review
80
ColliderIsabella SoaresAug 21, 2025
Season 1 Review: This is one of those TV shows that is made for a binge-watch, because although questions arise in every episode, the writers leave just the right number of revelations to keep you invested from start to finish. Read full review
80
iEmily BakerAug 21, 2025
Season 1 Review: Hostage is one of the best British dramas I’ve seen this year, and I couldn’t tear myself away from all five episodes – which is why I wish this wasn’t a Netflix show. Read full review
70
Wall Street JournalJohn AndersonAug 21, 2025
Season 1 Review: Can a series be geopolitically preposterous and still be a bingeable romp? Sure, and there are plenty of examples, though not many as forthrightly crackpot and provocative as “Hostage.” Read full review
65
TV GuideGavia Baker-WhitelawAug 21, 2025
Season 1 Review: In five fast-paced episodes, Hostage introduces more than enough twists and red herrings to keep us coming back for more. Like many contemporary political dramas, however, you may find it more enjoyable if you politely hand-wave its relationship to real-world politics. Read full review
60
EmpireDavid OpieAug 21, 2025
Season 1 Review: A solid binge for viewers who like their thrillers lean, entertaining, and somewhat vacuous. Read full review
60
Radio TimesMorgan CormackAug 21, 2025
Season 1 Review: Hostage is surely a good time – it's a series that is entertaining, has some fine performances, is slightly surprising in parts and fits the binge-watch model perfectly. It just won't be one that you'll likely remember after watching. Read full review
60
The IndependentHelen CoffeyAug 20, 2025
Season 1 Review: The trouble is, beneath the series' slick exterior lies a slightly wonky storyline – one that ranges from the shrug-worthy to the downright jump-the-shark. Read full review
42
The A.V. ClubBrian TallericoAug 20, 2025
Season 1 Review: Perhaps Chapman and his team will find a satisfying way to bring the personal and political drama of Vivienne Toussaint and Abigail Dalton together in the last two hours in a manner that makes the shallow nature of these three episodes feel like table-setting. It’s possible, but the cheap cliffhanger to end the third hour makes it seem even less likely that viewers are going to get a satisfying, meaty payoff. Read full review
40
RogerEbert.comNandini BalialAug 21, 2025
Season 1 Review: Neither impressive nor dreadful, the series is adrift in the doldrums of artistry. If they handed out Emmys for dull television, then I am certain “Hostage,” a limited British series now airing on Netflix, would make a clean sweep. Read full review
40
The TelegraphKeith WatsonAug 21, 2025
Season 1 Review: Ultimately, though, Hostage feels like five stories crammed into one and sometimes less really is more. In this case, a lot less. Read full review
30
The Hollywood ReporterDaniel FienbergAug 21, 2025
Season 1 Review: If you have an ensemble of characters who aren’t characters, good luck getting viewers to invest on even a superficial level, and good luck getting anybody to care when thriller conventions demand that you kill somebody off in order to simulate stakes. Read full review
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