User reviews

As an enormous fan of Westerns and a New Zealander, I was so excited to watch this film - having now seen it I'm left with nothing but disappointment. I'll run you through a quick pros and cons list

Pros

• Beautiful scenery
• Interesting and under-explored setting

Cons

• Predictable plot
• Idiotic characters
• Several poor actors
• Weak third act
• Little to no character development in anybody other than the protagonist.

This film feels like it's building to something that never comes. I had enormous hopes and probably a pretty large bias towards the film from the beginning, but it still failed to even entertain me. 4 stars

The first act is pretty good and succeeds in engaging the viewer. But as the plot unravels it gets harder to stay engaged as disbelief sets in. Several interesting plot points are introduced but never resolved.

The best part is the scenery, it is very beautiful to look at, with majestic mountains and rich flora. It is New Zealand after all. I kept looking for Frodo to pop in for a cameo.

The presentation of frontier life in the fringes of civilization was also interesting, and illustrated very well the randomness of death that could surprise even the seasoned and experienced,

Alice Eve does a great job with the starring part as the distraught mother, but as the story collapses there is not much she can do.

But the scenery and the dangers by themselves does not make a god movie. The last 30 minutes steadily go downhill until the weak ending.

Side note, a better movie with Alice Eve is Replica, with Keanu Reeves. That one is a 7.5 .

Set in 1882 on South Island, New Zealand, this adult drama has a number of preposterous plot elements and is not exactly your feel-good movie of the year, but it held my interest throughout and I wondered how it would all turn out. Alice Eve stars as Charlotte Lockton who has relocated to New Zealand from England with her husband David. However, soon after their arrival her husband is killed by home invaders and her baby boy kidnapped.

Charlotte will risk it all by embarking on a hazardous wagon trek (transporting supplies and prostitutes) to the Wild West-like environs of Goldtown. where she will try to locate and take back her baby boy. They'll be plenty of violence and unpleasantness to come as the movie progresses.

Overall, as mentioned, despite its flaws I found myself engaged enough and I particularly liked the ending here.

An intriguing beginning -- you know the type that inspires you to put the movie on pause while you sneak away to microwave some popcorn and hurry back to tap the pause button again. Wow! the film even starts off with a specific year, signaling a well researched historical background to an era in New Zealand few know about. And double Wow! the producer was endowed with a $4 million budget to get really creative. Alas, the popcorn turned out to be more interesting than The Stolen. Hanni Calder, the 1971 western heroine, did a 360 in her grave. The promise was a revenge thriller about a sophisticated aristocrat using her London smarts to outfox a group of grunting bumpkins in the mindless wastelands of 19th century New Zealand. That was the promise. Well you now know what was delivered -- a cliche and a disappointing one at that. No surprise the film has only taken in $27,741 so far.

There could be quite a few exciting and interesting films set in NZ during this time period and earlier but they don't seem to be getting made and this TV movie with it's complete lack of reality does not cut it.

For an obviously low budget film, this isn't too bad. The storyline is captivating and well developed, the characters hold interest and are well acted. Go in with little to no expectations and it's quite enjoyable, just don't hold a candle to any of the details.

What a pity! All this effort from a full cast and crew with all the potential of a great little movie. Great locations, very good period costume design and set design. Mostly decent performances and above average production values. But they were all compromised by a very feeble script and clumsy direction. The movie has moments of good suspense to begin with, but gradually as the awful dialogue and the stumbling storyline unfolds, the suspension of disbelief is eroded and the flaws begin screaming out with the agony of mediocrity.

I do understand why other reviewers haven't enjoyed this movie as much as I did. I needed to know what happened and wished the ending had included more of what happened next. I thoroughly enjoyed the the beautiful scenery, wonderful costumes and general plot but felt a stronger script would have improved the story line. A lot of unutilised potential here.

Here we have another clichéd and very unimpressive attempt at what could've been a strong, memorable revenge tale. Since the first few scenes and spoken lines of dialogue I knew just how uninteresting and predictably bland this film was going to be. Although the writing of the script is highly questionable I think the story should have been considered better as a soap opera. Alice Eve delivers an unconvincing yet borderline-acceptable performance. The acting overall is evidently deficient and it becomes distracting after a while. The climax leaves you unmoved and careless after a lot of weak acting and predictable plot points. On the other hand the cinematography and landscape shots are pretty nice as you would expect in any 'western' flick. The musical score is alright for the most part but at times it feels a bit out of place. Camerawork and editing are pretty average and acceptable. Production design is suitable although some of the sets look clearly unfinished and hurriedly made. All in all not recommended, do not waste your time in this. Go watch a real american western instead.

Apart from some pacing issues - this movie kept be going with the plot and held my attention until the end.

Found several scenes with the Prostitutes very humorous especially Emily Corcoran who also wrote the movie.

Recommended

This movie is a bit disingenuous in its advertising - a woman with a gun behind her back and the tag line, "She's Coming For You". The Alice Eve character was weak and needy for 95% of the movie. She wasn't a vigilante by any means - never armed and "coming for anybody" in the entire movie! She was stupid, naive, and man-dependent throughout. Even after being horribly wronged, she seemed stunningly unchanged. Poor writing or directing or acting? As the credits rolled I had no faith that our "hero" would live to see another day unless some kind-hearted man saved her. Pretty much the OPPOSITE of what I hoped for. I recommend the movie Sweetwater, starring January Jones if you want to see a satisfying vigilante movie.

Not sure about the negative "western" comments as if the US was the only place that ever had horses and gold towns. We thought the story, the acting and the scenery were all quite good.

...That's a solid B movie all the way around but has quite decent acting all around. You can feel the grit of this film. You may recognize one of the characters from Outlander, and there are several surprises midway into the movie which change the course of the rather predicable plot. Within the final moments of the final scene you know exactly what's going to happen and that's not fun, but as i said before, the mid movie surprises make it a solid watch at least once.

Dull Western set in New Zealand in which posh English woman Alice Eve joins a troop of whores in order to search for her stolen baby son. Sets that are about as realistic as a 40s Western, wafer-thin characterisations, a plot that goes nowhere for a good hour, and sub-standard acting from a host of second-tier TV actors.

Incoherent unnecessary and ultimately dreary, the kind of film that isn't bad but instead incredibly tedious. There's no reason why it's even shot in New Zealand - aside from inferences to it involving outsiders. Even then the locals are painted as mythical noble savages. Incoherent plot line and unbelievable character motivations. Save yourself the 90 minutes.

I didn't know what to expect from this movie but I enjoyed. It could have been a lot better if they had developed the characters a lot more as well as the story.

Just one bad happenstance after another for a 30 second happy ending. Also unrealistic....and pointless abduction. Waste of a lot of good actors.

We are kiwis thought this movie was rubbish Alice Eve was appalling the rest of the Actors not much better storyline was good shame it was shown so badly

Not well researched. I just got to that part and the story broke in an instant.

For fans of the classic western, or fans of stories that challenge the status quo, this is a compelling and fascinating adventure told from a different perspective. Charlotte Lockton (Alice Eve) has moved from England to New Zealand with her rich husband in 1860. But after her home is attacked and baby son is kidnapped, she decides to track him down, joining a ragtag bunch of misfits and ex-convicts to travel to the rough mining community of Gold Town, where she believes her son has been taken. In short, it's the traditional western told from the eyes of a woman, not the typical gunslinger (although we see those too!)

The film features beautiful, rugged New Zealand landscape which looks incredibly cinematic, plus a powerful score. What is also notable is the ensemble cast, which is very impressive. The lineup features Jack Davenport (Pirates of the Caribbean, Kingsman: The Secret Service), Graham McTavish (Preacher, Outlander, Rambo), Richard O'Brien (The Rocky Horror Picture Show, The Crystal Maze), NZ music star Stan Walker and more. The cast is excellent and conveys the rich variety of characters very well, with settlers from all over the world, realistic in its history. With further reading, the filmmakers have done a good job combining a rarely discussed slice of history with a fresh, engaging story.

For an unconventional spin on a long established genre, and a strong cast to boot, The Stolen is a highly recommended, unusual western adventure.