Captive State

Name: Captive State
Genre: Sci-Fi, Thriller
Released: March 15, 2019
Duration: 109 min
Rating: 54
Cast: Alan Ruck, Ashton Sanders, Ben Daniels, Brian Wolfman Black Bowman, D.B. Sweeney

2019

METASCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 19 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 86 Ratings

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5.5	User Score Mixed or average reviews based on 86 Ratings

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Movie Details & Credits

Focus Features | Release Date: March 15, 2019 | PG-13

Starring: Alan Ruck, Ashton Sanders, Ben Daniels, Brian Wolfman Black Bowman, D.B. Sweeney, Jackie Saland, James Ransone, John Goodman, Jonathan Majors, Kevin Dunn, Kevin J. O'Connor, KiKi Layne, Lizzy Leigh, Machine Gun Kelly, Madeline Brewer, Vera Farmiga

Summary: Set in a Chicago neighborhood nearly a decade after an occupation by an extra-terrestrial force, Captive State explores the lives on both sides of the conflict - the collaborators and dissidents.

Director: Rupert Wyatt

Genre(s): Sci-Fi, Thriller

Rating: PG-13

Runtime: 109 min

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Critic Reviews

Joe Leydon

Mar 15, 2019

Although the TV ads and other 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. Read full review

Oktay Ege Kozak

Mar 18, 2019

It’s a shame that its studio didn’t more heavily market Captive State. Smart, layered, tense, well-executed sci-fi like this should be nurtured in movie theaters. Read full review

Matthew Monagle

Mar 18, 2019

At its best, Captive State blends imaginative science fiction with the caliber of detail-oriented espionage you might find in an Alan J. Pakula film. Read full review

James Berardinelli

Mar 15, 2019

Captive State is a messy, incomplete affair. Attempts to assemble it into a workable package in the editing room didn’t work, so we’re left with a weird cross between "District 9" and "The Battle of Algiers" that doesn’t do either of those apparent inspirations justice. Read full review

IndieWire Michael Nordine

Mar 15, 2019

Embedded in all this is a would-be message about those who trade freedom for security, the human spirit, and so on and so forth, all of which is too muddled to register with the intended force. Captive State is many things at once — or at least it’s trying to be — and every match it lights along the way is quickly snuffed out. Read full review

Gary Goldstein

Mar 15, 2019

In Captive State aliens have taken over the world (as they will), but it’s the viewers stuck watching this messy, lugubrious sci-fi thriller who may feel like the ones being held captive. Read full review

Carlos Aguilar

Mar 16, 2019

Lacking poignancy at every level, what could have been a moderately exciting, if unoriginal, occupation thriller instead becomes a muddled and dispirited disappointment from the director who once earned high praise for “Rise of the Planet of the Apes.” Read full review

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User Reviews

katafrag

May 30, 2019

A well-intentioned alien invasion story riddled with relevant but all too obvious and heavy-handed sociopolitical symbolism. In a film that's part "War of the Worlds," part "District 9" and part "Divergent," along with other all-too-familiar sci-fi allusions thrown in. we're handed a storyA well-intentioned alien invasion story riddled with relevant but all too obvious and heavy-handed sociopolitical symbolism. In a film that's part "War of the Worlds," part "District 9" and part "Divergent," along with other all-too-familiar sci-fi allusions thrown in. we're handed a story that's a little too crammed with ideas, characters, technologies and events to adequately keep track of things given the blistering pace of the story (a quality that, ironically, makes the picture somewhat tedious to watch). This could have been a lot better with some retooling -- and maybe a few more drafts of the screenplay.… Expand

2 of 3 users found this helpful21

Aladdin718

Dec 15, 2019

Really good. I don’t want to spoil anything, so I’ll leave it at that. I highly recommend it.

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

JackusBlackus

Apr 12, 2019

This is a good movie. It has a broad mix of sci-fi, mystery, suspense, action, and clever twists. It is not an action movie or a CGI-fest. Don't go in expecting super-heroes, spectacular explosions, choreographed battles or thrilling chase scenes.

This is a thought-provoking story about aThis is a good movie. It has a broad mix of sci-fi, mystery, suspense, action, and clever twists. It is not an action movie or a CGI-fest. Don't go in expecting super-heroes, spectacular explosions, choreographed battles or thrilling chase scenes.

This is a thought-provoking story about a dystopian future when humans live under the subjugation of aliens. Think of the French Resistance operating in the shadows of the German occupation during World War II.

The movie focuses on the life of a person who is working to escape to the wilderness. He has minor interactions with the rebels in the beginning, but unknowingly becomes an important part of their plan.… Expand

2 of 3 users found this helpful21

JoeCool

Jun 2, 2019

Interesting, but a little too messy to really be good. Ending is a bit weak. Nice try, just falls a bit short of the good stuff. Good for DVD, not really something you'd be happy to have seen in a theatre.

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

PalpetineSheev

Mar 20, 2020

An extremely interesting idea with a very uneven pay off. It's well made for the most part, but it's also somewhat forgettable and nowhere near as good as it should have been.

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

tropicAces

Mar 15, 2019

It’s pretty bad. Horrible pacing, suspect special effects and no character development make this feel like the kind of movie Netflix would have put out four years ago...

7 of 10 users found this helpful73

real022

Jun 20, 2019

So bad.

It seems that some kid wrote the script, in that case it`s ok. Otherwise it is just stupid.

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

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97	#97 Most Discussed Movie of 2019
82	#82 Most Shared Movie of 2019