Captive State

GIVEN the allusions to literal and thematic Trojan Horses that pepper its third act, one probably shouldn’t be surprised that Captive State actually is something of a purposefully camouflaged interloper. Although the 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. The big difference here, of course, is that the occupiers are extraterrestrials, not German troops or British colonialists. But, truth to tell, director Rupert Wyatt (Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes) and scriptwriter Erica Beeney don’t seem terribly interested in those intergalactic beasties, which appear only fleetingly on scattered occasions. They’re scary enough to serve their purpose, but they’re certainly not the main attraction.

To say much more about plot specifics would not be fair, because Captive State is one of those relatively rare movies that are all the more gripping if you don’t fully understand what is happening on a minute-to-minute basis, and you’re forced to focus your attention to suss out just who is deserving of a rooting interest, and why they’re doing what they do. The plot has something to do with an assassination conspiracy, which generates as much sweatypalmed tension as anything in the Bourne Identity franchise, and something else to do with contriving to make someone seem as safe and trustworthy as – yes, you guessed it! – a Trojan Horse. With Captive State, Wyatt and Beeney have pulled off something truly audacious and ingenious here, even if they don’t always make it easy to keep up with them. –

Joe Leydon/Reuters