The little-known Ryan Reynolds 2014 crime thriller that unexpectedly topped film charts 12 years later

The Ryan Reynolds-led thriller The Captive has surprised TV fans after landing in the top 10 most popular films on Netflix despite its initial lukewarm reception back in 2014, when it was first released. The flick, which stars Ryan as a father desperate to find his daughter following her abduction, was directed by Atom Egoyan and panned by some critics for its perceived lack of depth and confusing timeline.

The Captive has spent a week at number nine in the streaming giant’s top films, bringing it in line with hits like War Machine, Nuremberg, Jurassic World Rebirth, Trolls and KPop Demon Hunters.

The film co-stars Rosario Dawson, Mireille Enos, Kevin Durand and Scott Speedman, and follows an estranged couple eight years after their daughter, Cassandra, was abducted. 

The Captive earned just $12 million at the box office and was met with a poor reception at the Cannes Film Festival, much to the director’s surprise.

“It was actually the worst-reviewed film that I ever did. We should never have taken it to Cannes,” said Atom during a masterclass at the Doha Film Institute in 2024.

“It got this really crazy reception. It was in competition on the Friday night. I haven’t been to Cannes since because I just don’t ever want to come back to what we had that night. The last couple of films we showed in Venice or Berlin.”

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“It’s an amazing performance from Ryan Reynolds, not what you’d expect him to do and the fact that he came back to Canada to be in this low-budget film when he was at the height of his career,” the director added.

Atom suggested that film had gained relevance and a new audience in recent years after the crimes of sexual abuser Jeffrey Epstein came to light, which revealed an extensive pedophile ring in the elite classes.

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“In terms of this incredible, crazy cabal that we found out about his life after this, it makes more sense now,” he said at the event.

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Atom shared with The Winnipeg Free Press in 2014 that he was “stunned” by the negative reaction the film received after its release. “A lot of the reviews were just really cruel. I don’t understand the charge of it being exploitative because it actually goes to great pains not to be exploitative at all…It was a pretty extreme reaction,” he explained.

Atom added that Ryan’s performance firmly lifted him out of the rom-com stereotype that followed him around Hollywood. “He’s just so capable of this rich, deep characterization. What he’s doing at the end of the film is so subtle and just so interesting,” he said.