The Disappearance of Alice Creed

  • Review Date: November 21, 2010
  • R
  • Genre: Thriller
  • 2010
 Review

Common Sense Media says

Tense, thrilling kidnap story too violent for kids.
greenON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
yellowPAUSE: Know your child; some content
may not be right for some kids.
redOFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
not for kidsNOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age.

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Quality
 
Sometimes media can be age appropriate but a real waste of time. Our star rating assesses the media's overall quality.

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Parents say

Kids say

Not yet rated

What parents need to know

Parents need to know that The Disappearance of Alice Creed is a darkly violent kidnapping thriller that features some violence toward women (mostly slapping and rough handling), as well as guns and some spattering blood. There is some brief nudity (female frontal and male rear), and very frequent use of "f--k." Mature, older teens and parents will find some enjoyable thrills here, but younger folks should stay away.

  • The entire movie is centered around a kidnapping, an act performed with violence for the illegal accumulation of wealth. The characters are greedy and cruel, but even further, they are often dishonest with one another, manipulating each other for selfish reasons. Some of the characters face consequences for their actions, but no lessons are learned.
  • There are only three characters here, but all of them are greedy, manipulative, selfish, violent, or dishonest. Each of the characters continues to behave in this fashion throughout the story, with the goal of surviving the ordeal, and hopefully collecting all the ransom money. No one learns any kind of lesson, though some of the characters pay a higher price.
  • Two men kidnap a woman, treating her roughly, threatening her, and occasionally slapping her. They strip her and dress her in a new set of clothes (a track suit). They inject her with sleeping drugs. There are also guns, and shots fired with spurts of blood, and a vomiting sequence.
  • Alice Creed's breasts are on view for a short time while the men change her clothes. They also change their clothes, and their naked buttocks are on view. There is a scene of seduction between a man and woman, and some sex talk having to do with two male partners.
  • "F--k" is used in just about every other sentence. Other words include "s--t" and "piss."
  • Not applicable.
  • One character enjoys a beer, while another scolds him for it. The kidnappers inject their victim with a sleeping drug.

What's the story?

Danny (Martin Compston) and Vic (Eddie Marsan) spend a good deal of time outfitting a room with soundproofing, locks, braces, and various other items. Then their plan begins: they kidnap Alice Creed (Gemma Arterton), tie her to a bed, and proceed to demand and collect their ransom money. It's a perfect plan, except for one thing: the victim has not been chosen randomly. More than that, the secret relationship between the two men will eventually complicate matters further. Once the power dynamic shifts between the three figures, what will keep the plan from toppling altogether?


Is it any good?

 

The movie has strong word-of-mouth, since first-time British director J. Blakeson was
listed as one of Variety's 10 directors to watch in 2010. Making his feature debut here, it's a strong one: economical, surprising, and emotional. With the exception of a few establishing shots, he confines the action to two or three rooms and some moody woods, with only three characters involved. The very strong screenplay keeps the drama building in interesting and surprising ways, revealing bits of information a little at a time. Most kidnapping movies follow the attempts to rescue the victim, and this one flips the genre on its side.

The movie benefits greatly from a trio of strong performances, by three actors (Arterton, Marsan, and Compston) who deserve to be better known after this. With very little physical movement during the bulk of the story -- the camera stays mostly inside the room -- the movie depends heavily on these characters. The gamble pays off, and we hang on their every word and movement. Intense and unflinching, it's not for the weak of stomach, however.


Explore, discuss, enjoy

  • Families can talk about the movie's violence. Is it thrilling violence, or disturbing violence? Is there a difference? How does the movie achieve this effect?

  • This movie features violence toward women. How do these scenes make you feel? Do you like the male characters less when they treat the woman badly? How about when they treat her like another person, rather than as a victim?

  • How does this movie differ from other dark thrillers? Are the characters unique in any way? Do they embody stereotypes or challenge them?


This review of The Disappearance of Alice Creed was written by
Educator
January 25, 2011
 
I really, REALLY loved this movie. Tense thriller, with surprises and twists all the way around.. and HUMOR! Fantastic! That all being said, Common Sense Media's purpose is as to whether this movie is age appropriate. There is a scene near the beginning in which the young 20's female is kidnapped, tied up to a bed. She is stripped naked and then re-dressed. All you see are her breasts, and while it seems very violent, and certainly scary (terrifying for her, and it shows), there is no rape or inappropriate behavior. The men are simply re-dressing her into a more comfortable outfit, a jump suit. Other than that, there is an incredible amount of bad language, some bare male butt, a lot of smoking, some drugs, and maybe a gun fire or two. If not for the language, and tie-up scene, this movie may have been rated PG-13, so that is why I rate it "Iffy for 13+". Walt D in LV
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Adult
December 7, 2010
 
extremely well directed and acted British thriller. great.
On a suburban street, two masked men seize a young woman. They bind and gag her and take her to an abandoned, soundproofed apartment. She is Alice Creed (Gemma Arterton), daughter of a millionaire. Her kidnappers, the coldly efficient Vic (Eddie Marsan) and his younger accomplice Danny (Martin Compston), have worked out a meticulous plan. But Alice is not going to play the perfect victim - she isn't about to let her captors use her as capital without a fight. Alice enters into a battle of wills which strains the already fractious relationship between the two men. As the deadline for the exchange draws nearer, all three are brought close to the breaking point, with Vic and Danny's foolproof plan descending into a desperate struggle for survival. In a tense power-play of greed, duplicity, and survival we discover that sometimes disappearances can be deceptive, and even the most meticulous plans can go awry if you don't choose your victim wisely. after seeing very good reviews and recommendations from my Flixster friends i thought i'll watch it, didn't got chance to do it so but now i saw it and yes it was A.W.S.O.M.E. lol. its a very gritty British thriller. i would say its one of the best movies that involves kidnapping. and definitely one of the good complete satisfying movie i have seen this year. i was not expecting much from this movie but it actually blew me away completely. this movie is a perfect example for all these thriller movies nowadays that lacks story, screenplay, direction, acting, satisfying audiences, hence everything while being big all that big budget and big stars etc. it proves that money or big budget doesn't makes a movie good. Just three actors, just three characters and still a complete enjoyable offbeat crime drama thriller, fantastic. Gemma Arterton, we have seen her in some big budget summer movies is in this movie with a complete makeover. she is just exceptional in this movie, she gives superb performance. she really shocked me. her expressions, crying scenes i mean everything she does in this movies will make you think she is an experienced award winning actress i mean awsome. other two actors who are the kidnappers again performed excellent. Martin Compston and the well known good actor Eddie Marsan. they were brilliant in every scene, everyone was brilliant in every scene. simply great direction, very well directed. written very well too. superbly written Screenplay which is very engaging and never boring or never felts flat or empty. good editing and story. the best thing in this movie is that it is completely unpredictable which is a great thing about it, you will completely love it. and the end too is very shocking and at the same time good too but shocking. with very good suspense and strong story this thriller is a great movie to watch. and one more thing is the opening of the movie, for 15 minutes or so, no word from the mouth of these two actors who you will see preparing for the kidnapping i mean that build so much tension and excitement in your heart. that is awsome. a refreshing and brilliant movie. thumb up. Do watch.
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Teen, 16 years old
March 2, 2013
 
Decent emotional kidnapping film
MOVIE INFO: A tense and emotional film that has only three actors. Has a slow-moving, yet interesting storyline going on. The film has lots of unique styles, different from other kidnapping/hostage films. VIOLENCE: Low-Medium. There aren't any explosions and too much action, but there are scenes of kidnapping, threatening, beating, slapping and guns. A few small graphical/bloody scenes. LANGUAGE: Very high. Very frequent swearing: f--k, c--t, s--t, d--k. SEX: Medium. No actual sex, but scenes of complete nudity, sex materials (ball gag), scenes of seduction, and lots of sexual talk and references.
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This review of The Disappearance of Alice Creed was written by
Studio:Anchor Bay Entertainment
Director:J. Blakeson
Cast:Eddie Marsan, Gemma Arterton, Martin Compston
Genre:Thriller
Run time:100 minutes
Theatrical release date:August 6, 2010
DVD release date:November 23, 2010
MPAA rating:R
MPAA explanation:violent content, pervasive language and some sexuality/nudity

This review of The Disappearance of Alice Creed was written by
 

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