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Art sadly imitates life as the long-awaited Haitian action-comedy Kidnapping Inc. finally hits the big screen four years after tragic events during filming. Director/co-writer Bruno Mourral satirizes the unceasing violence, poverty, and corruption that plagues the country. An opening card explains how Haiti came to its current predicament with a primer on pervasive social, economic, and racial inequities. Kidnapping hostages for ransom is a widespread problem. The film gets big laughs by mocking a terrifying and serious issue while illustrating the difficulties ordinary citizens face to survive.

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Kidnapping Inc.RComedyDramaThrillerInternational3/5Release DateFebruary 7, 2024Runtime107 MinutesCast

Gessica Généus

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ExpandCollapsePros & ConsSome laugh-out-loud slapstick antics throughout, bolstered by strong performances.An effective satire of the corruption and politics in Haiti, shining a light on grim realities.The narrative is overstuffed,...

"I'll pay twice the amount to anyone who can help us find my son."...

Political unrest, economic instability and rampant insecurity have plagued the Caribbean nation of Haiti for decades. That the small percentage of mixed-race (mulatto) population holds a disproportionate portion of the wealth and power over the 95% Black majority fuels the anger and distrust of the masses. That’s the harsh reality where Haitian-born director Bruno Mourral locates his brash and muddled crime comedy “Kidnapping Inc.”

Devoted fans of rival squads in the Spanish soccer league, Doc and Zoe (Rolapthon Mercure), have abducted the son of presidential candidate Benjamin Perralt (Ashley Laraque) just days before the 2017 election. We don’t know how many times, if any, they’ve done this before, but their ineptitude quickly becomes evident. The pair drives around Port-au-Prince, the country’s capital, with their victim’s dead body in the drunk after Zoe accidentally killed him. Their ridiculous solutions to this unfortunate incident only escalate the irritation of...

Art imitates life in the Sundance-bound “Kidnapping Inc.,” a dark comedy about a botched kidnapping plot that became eerily prescient when three crew members were abducted during the production of the film.

Haitian director Bruno Mourral’s feature debut follows a pair of hapless kidnappers tasked with what appears to be a simple abduction for hire, only to find that it’s anything but when they’re suddenly drawn into a vast political conspiracy.

In a harrowing twist, the production team’s convoy was waylaid by gunmen one night as cast and crew were returning from a location shoot. Three crew members were abducted, setting off frantic negotiations with local gangs, who were demanding a ransom of $1 million per hostage.

The incident would soon draw in the president of the neighboring Dominican Republic, where two of the hostages were from. Eventually, the prime minister of Haiti intervened to free the three men.

Personal and political life in Haiti are brought sharply into focus in “Freda,” a powerful and resolutely unsentimental drama about a determined young university student who must decide whether to stay in her deeply troubled country or seek a future elsewhere. Weaving documentary footage of civil unrest into an intelligent and compassionate screenplay that examines what it means to be a Haitian woman in a society stacked heavily in favor of men, “Freda” marks an outstanding feature debut for actress-singer-filmmaker Gessica Geneus. This vital and vibrant drama is Haiti’s submission in the Oscar international feature category.

“Freda” is only the second Haitian feature entered for Oscar consideration, following “Ayiti Mon Amour” by Guetty Felinin in 2017. It’s also just the second Haitian production ever selected for Cannes, after Raoul Peck’s “The Man on the Shore” in 1993. “Freda” received a major profile boost in early December with the announcement that Francis Ford Coppola,...