This is a tense psychological drama. A Dutch banker travels to Morocco to set up a food program at the behest of his Moroccan girlfriend. He is kidnapped by a group of extremists who hold him captive and ultimately torture him for information. But who, we wind up asking, is ultimately who? And what truly are everyone's motives? It's a tough film to watch as it deals not only with terrorism and our assumptions about terrorists but also with the challenging topic of torture as a means of obtaining information.
The best parts of the film involve the intense dialogs between the three main characters of the captive, Martijn (Ryan Phillippe), the captor, Ahmat (Laurence Fishburne), and the captor's accomplice, Aicha (Gina Torres). These three actors' performances are outstandingly authentic and riveting. There's no question that if you love to see actors at the top of their game that you shouldn't miss this film. Ryan Phillippe's role as Martijn, however, is the most demanding and he never falters. As the focus character, Ryan's performance creates an incredibly intelligent and complex character.
But this, nevertheless, is a flawed film. It sometimes stumbles over itself. There seems to be some serious issues with editing and pacing. That's too bad. But this is still definitely worth watching if you can handle it's frank look at modern man's sojourn into primitive behavior.
