Short film creator Savvas Christou moves into features with his debut film Captive. His film is a taut and intense psychological thriller packed full of intrigues and plot pivots, telling the disturbing story of a teen runaway who finds herself in over her head after accidentally knocking on the wrong door. Lily (Tori Kastic) flees her abusive home with her boyfriend Neil. With no proper plan of action, Lily is horrified to wake up the next day and discover that Neil has abandoned her, and with no phone or way of contacting anyone, she stumbles across a house in her search for help. The house belongs to Evan (WIlliam Kircher), a reclusive man who immediately interacts with Lily as if he knows her. In fact, he believes that she is his daughter Katherine, and quickly bundles her inside. Now trapped inside with a delusional man, Lily realises that her only hope for escape lies in how well she can pretend to be, and pass as, Katherine.
Captive has a great premise. When told through Lily’s perspective, the viewer is placed right next to her as we too try to figure out and comprehend exactly who Evan is and what he wants. Being kept in the dark helps to foster unease around Evan and the bond with Lily. The only tangible information we gleen about Evan comes from the words in Katherine’s diary, and even that is filtered through the mind of an emotional teenager. Not knowing what happened to Katherine also helps build in trepidation. Did she leave and run away, or did Evan snap and do something to her? This mystery works its way under your skin and casts Evan in a dangerous light. It’s such a simple piece of storytelling, but one that has been executed beautifully.
Distancing itself from kidnap / hostage / torture stories of the past, Captive plays as much as it can, completely straight. Evan genuinely appears to believe that Lily is his Katherine and so he treats her as he does his daughter. He is a strict and overprotective father, but it comes from a place of love in a twisted way as he wants the best for his daughter. He once had aspirations of being an athlete, but failed and had raised Katherine to push further than he managed, the two having been in training for the Olympics. As if being held captive wasn’t enough, in order to pass as Katherine, Lily has to do copious amounts of exercise. For an unfit person this is a feat worse than torture.
In Lily we have an example of a perfectly constructed character. What I mean by that is she behaves how the viewer might in the same situation. She quickly assesses that Evan is unstable and rather than push him and risk injury, she plays along. Her attempts to escape his clutches are carefully planned out. She doesn’t just bolt for the door at the first chance; Lily is prepared to play the long game to ensure her eventual survival. This smart and savvy way of thinking is refreshing as there have been plenty of films whose stories revolve around the main character repeatedly making ill-conceived and impulsive attempts to get away, which only results in their situation getting worse. Tori Kastic does fantastic work with the role. There’s isn’t a whole lot that happens within Captive, but Kastic’s performance pulls the viewer in and everything else falls away.
Claustrophobic and unsettling, Captive is a brilliant psychological drama thriller that proves that keeping events contained can help to craft an intense viewing experience. A film that slowly and steadily builds towards a mind-melting finale, Captive is a great first step into feature-length movies for Christou.
Captive
Summary
An unsettling, claustrophobic, and intense viewing experience, Captive draws you in and holds you in place up until its finale, which will leave you spiralling.
Captive was reviewed at Arrow Video FrightFest 2021.
