The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

Awakening in a strange room, a glamorous supermodel and another prisoner learn they have been abducted by a crazed madman intent on torturing them in various brutal traps and must find a way out of their predicament to survive the encounter together.While there's some good stuff to this one, the fact that there's a lot more flaws really makes this one quite low. One of the biggest ones is that there's really no rationale offered for why anything goes on in here. It's supposed to go without saying that the cause is due to feeling incredibly attracted to her, but that still doesn't explain certain motivations present. The blank, expressionless and completely unknown killer here doesn't strike any kind of fear about himself physically, which is why offering a sort of explanation would've gone a long-way towards what the purpose of doing this would've been. One of the biggest culprits is the ending, which is where it's supposed to all come together, yet instead it just doesn't hold any impact at all. It glosses over the answer and doesn't provide any real truth to the matter, and instead it just makes the whole film feel incredibly confused due to not giving anything of any real definitive clarity, especially with why he held both of them together. Another problem in the film is the fact that there's way too much time spent on making sure the characters are drugged, which gets old after a while. It doesn't make for very engaging viewing knowing that, immediately afterward, she's going to be drugged out to ensure that the cycle continues. Rather, do it rarely or make it a mystery as to what's occurring to her, as she keeps blanking out but is unsure of why, building up mystery to what's happening there rather than spell it out from the very beginning and not offering any chance of doing so otherwise. The last flaw to this one is the fact that, through the majority of the film, hardly anything really interesting happens. Sure, the tortures are fine and graphic, but it just runs through the motions without anything there to make them standout nor does anything interesting with the shots of her candid interviews, and it suffers for that. Along with some lame tortures and the unthreatening killer, these here are the film's problems. There was a few things about this one that actually worked. One of the biggest is that there's a really spectacular setting in here where all the action takes place, with the different amount of really dangerous-looking devices strung up throughout the walls, the dirty, grimy feel with all the dried blood and damp-looking surroundings. This effectively gives off the feeling of being a rather creepy-looking setting and appropriate for a series of crazy tortures to happen. There's a really good one inside an hourglass that is incredibly suspenseful, a falling acid trap and the different encounters down in the basement are quite nice, as is a full-on extended chase at the end that is incredibly fun and makes for a lot of good stuff. From the different entanglements through the house to the fun finale down in the basement and even the bloodshed, this scene has a lot to like going for it and it's the best thing about the film. These here are what hold this up but the flaws are just too much for this one.Rated R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language, Brief Nudity, animal violence and a shadowy Sex Scene

This movie was available on Xfinity on-demand, which is an app on my HD kindle. It is a good example of the "Extreme Horror" genre which has developed over the past 10 years since the first "Saw" movie.As so many have mentioned, the plot is nothing new: a stunning model gets kidnapped, put in a dungeon and subject to unimaginable horrors. Yet the lighting, cinematography and editing combine to thrust "Captivity" a notch above the typical movie trying to cash in on the Extreme Horror bandwagon. The musical score also helps ratchet up the tension and stays out of the way as it should.Some of the scenes and shots are truly horrifying, which impressed me since I have a mini-hobby of seeking out well-done shocker movies and it takes a lot to get my heart racing. There's one truly gory scene and it's more psychological than physical, which was clever.Other reviewers have mentioned that the star Elisha Cuthbert looked too "good" during the torturous ordeal: all her hair in place and nicely done, good makeup and on and on. So? She was definitely cast as eye candy and pleasing on the eye to male audience members who sympathize and root for her. Would it have helped to gunk her up a little for a more gritty, grisly effect? No, this is not that kind of movie and the producers knew it.So is she just a screaming, naive blond? No. Through a clever series of twists and turns at the end she not only shows some smarts but some kick-ass qualities as well. The movie ends satisfyingly and all in all is worthwhile for any horror or thriller movie fan.

I work inn the film business, and read/have read a LOT of scripts. While I'm in the business, I HATE what has become of the US film industry. Without going into a tirade - they're my bread and butter, and that's not for here - one big reasons the dumbing down (if that's possible) of the movies.I'd be sitting in a screening room, and would be mumbling the dialogue - even before the actor said it. People around me, would say it was because I'd read the script.Nope.It's because it's all so 'film-by-numbers.' like making those ad-libs, where you fill in words, is how most films are made.This is one of those.I'd never heard of it, and, just started watching it (a once in awhile guilty pleasure). Within... 15 minutes (and I was reading something while it was on), I knew who the 'bad' guy was. I could even figure out why he was doing it, (roughly), etc.So, just to prove myself right, I sat through it. And, I was right.I like Elisha Cuthbert - I think she's a talented young lady who is her dues, with this. But, this so mind numbing - I'm no fan of so-called 'torture porn,' but, even I was saying 'please!'David Gillies is the indistinguishably generic ' good-looking young man,' and every other person is cliché - both in their appearance, and character. I'm saying all this semi-vaguely, because while the 'plot' is so thread-bare, I don't want to give anything 'away.'Having said all this, if you want to see Elisha in a better film, see her in THE GIRL NEXT DOOR, where she gives a much better performance.Otherwise - skip this.I'm shocked (?) to see Roland Joffé's name as the director. While the man has made other garbage, he's also made films that are good (THE KILLING FIELDS).Roland - WTF?!?!?! 

I watched this movie not hearing much about it other then it was very gory and it stared elisha cuthbert. So i decided to watch it and i was pretty disappointed. The acting was not to bad but the story line was cliché and boring. The special effects did not disappoint though with some pretty good gross out moments.this movie is about a man and women who don't know each other. They wake up in a room and throughout the movie are totured both physically and physcologically.This movie is not all bad i was just expecting more. Its not the worst movie in the world though and if you are a true horror fan it is definitely worth the watch.