Captivity

Even before its release, CAPTIVITY was notorious. Shot in Moscow in 2005, it was touted as the first United States-Russian co-production. And its early ads -- which featured images of a young woman's abuse -- drew public outcry and were withdrawn by distributor After Dark Films. Sadly, the movie that has finally reached theaters hardly seems worth the uproar.

The plot takes the shape of one abuse after another, punctuated by inane dialogue (killer by intercom: "Why do bad things happen to good people, you ask? That's the mystery"; Jennifer in a TV interview the killer plays on a taunting loop: "It's not just me. It's a scientific fact: Beauty rules. It always has, and it always will"). When Jennifer discovers a second captive, Gary (Daniel Gillies), she's heartened -- but viewers are troubled: His sudden appearance is ridiculously convenient, and his pretty-boy slickness is surely more corny than reassuring. The film tries to have it multiple ways, both condemning the killer's self-importance and disapproving of Jennifer's superficial performance -- as well as the system of high-fashion imagery that encourages him to desire and hate her at the same time. The fact that Captivity also flashes back to an atrocious scene showing the killer with his sexually abusive, drugged-out mother doesn't quite excuse him, but does -- predictably and quite painfully -- find a way to blame a woman for what's wrong with him.