Captifs (2010)
Directed by Yann Gozlan

Film Review

French cinema's recently acquired obsession with vicious survival thrillers shows little sign of abating although it is becoming painfully evident that the directors and screenwriters are fast running out of ideas.  The latest entry in this increasingly formulaic genre is Captifs, a respectable debut feature from director Yann Gozlan whose only real fault is that it adds absolutely nothing to a genre that has so manifestly run its course.  On the plus side, it is an atmospheric piece that sustains its tension and grimly fatalistic mood remarkably well, mainly through a combination of unsettling camerawork and slick editing.  On the downside, it is so drenched in clichés that watching it is like suffering from a bout of chronic déjà vu, and its plot is so threadbare that even the briefest of résumés manages to encapsulate its entire content, spoilers and all.

Whilst the references to other films in the slasher, survival and psycho-thriller genres are perhaps a little to obvious, Captifs still manages to hang together and hold our interest, being all the more effective as its director somehow resists the temptation to cover his actors and the set with gallons of theatrical blood.  The 'less is more' principle is amply demonstrated by this film.  Captifs has much more in common with the early psycho-thrillers of the '60s and '70s than the frenzied gore-fests of more recent times, more concerned with the mental distress of the protagonists than in presenting a pointless orgy of Grand Guignol blood splattering excess.  Whilst, on paper, the characters are thinly developed and a pretty superficial bunch, this is at least partly compensated for by the quality of the acting, which is above average for a film of this kind.  Arié Elmaleh and Zoé Félix, who are both better known for comedy, each turns in a respectable dramatic performance that lends a great deal to the film's tension and realism.  Captifs is unlikely to win any awards for originality but it is a surprisingly effective little thriller which manages to shock without resorting to the crass juvenile excesses that have become de rigueur for this now virtually mined-out genre. Half a decade on, Yann Gozlan returned with a more conventional thriller, Un homme idéal (2015).

Film Synopsis

Carole, Samir and Dr Mathias make up a medical team that has been carrying out essential humanitarian work in the Balkans during the Yugoslav conflict.  Their mission over, they head back home to Paris by truck, but on the way they are stopped by a roadblock and have to take a detour.  They lose their way in the bleak countryside and, after asking directions at a remote house, they are brutally attacked by some unsavoury looking individuals.  They are then taken away and thrown into cells, where they are kept prisoner.  Carole and her friends have no idea who their abductors may be or what they intend doing with them.  The truth is more terrifying than any of them could have imagined...