Rapt

A French suspense film, Rapt concerns the kidnapping of a businessman for ransom. Stan (Yvan Attal) is the Chairman of a wealthy company in Paris, but he is not a very noble person. With a mistress and a heavy gambling habit, his family, friends and business associates have a lot of options as to the motives of the kidnappers.


The media too has found out about his vices, which doesn’t sit well with Stan’s Board of Directors. Although they are willing to loan the money for the ransom, the price is still pretty steep and no one can come up with the full amount the kidnappers are asking for. After several attempts at handing over a partial ransom, days drag on to weeks with no word from the kidnappers, and media interest about Stan is lost. But the police continue to wait, his family continues to hope, as Stan is shuffled from hideout to hideout.

Eventually Stan is released, and we see how his family reacts to his return. Stan’s trauma doesn’t seem to have brought out any humility and in fact he is just as arrogant and greedy as before. When the kidnappers call in the debt they agreed upon when they let him go, what choice will Stan make?

The film I think (intentionally) misleads us with the majority of the film, having us wonder who may be behind the kidnappers, and causing tension as we wonder about Stan’s fate. But this is not really what the film is about; it is when Stan is released which is the heart of the movie. What has Stan learned about himself and will he be a changed man? The film doesn’t stay with Stan enough in the film to have us see what is in his thoughts. We are shown his character by what is revealed about him outside of the kidnapper’s lair, but during his incarceration Stan doesn’t do a lot of introspection. There is a lot of police work and some family crisis time, and while Stan is shown cowering amongst his kidnappers, he returns to being king of the roost when he is back in society. The acting is very good overall, but the ending of the film is not ambiguous enough for the audience since Stan has no moral ambiguity for us to question which way his choice will go.