iHostage

I love how so many people on here are complaining about the fact that there was no explanation about the hostage taker's motive, his Arabic name, the little details there are about the hostage, etcetera. Meanwhile this movie is based on real events and it's simply a mystery what his motives were (because it was never found out, duh!). The hostage taker literally had a Syrian ethnicity (news flash: people with around 180 different ethnical backgrounds live in the Netherlands and many have very thick Dutch local accents, because they were born and raised here). The hostage decided to stay anonymous after the event, so there is little known about him, except that he's from Bulgaria. So they made a movie about facts. They followed the literal storyline as much as possible. But it's not sensational enough? It needed a bit more drama, or... well, lies? Reality can't have plot holes, just missing facts.

Oh and for the ones saying: I'd rather have watched an actual documentary, with actual statements from people who were there. So..? Go do that then. That documentary already came out over a year ago. You can't blame anyone for not knowing, except yourself. Some people don't like documentaries. Now they can watch this movie and also learn about what happened that day.

IHostage is based on a true story that once dominated the Dutch headlines, which immediately gives the movie a certain weight. Unfortunately, it never really digs deeper than a surface-level retelling. While the events themselves are inherently dramatic, the film fails to explore the emotional or psychological layers that could have made it truly gripping.

Characters remain flat, and there's little insight into their motivations or inner struggles. The code word felt clumsy and unrealistic, seriously undermining the tension. Overall, a missed opportunity to turn a powerful story into a decent movie.

I looked forward to viewing this film. I enjoy foreign films. American tv is over produced and the writing is often not stellar. But European films and episodics tend to be gritier and more realistic. Grounded acting and real looking people who are not overly groomed. But Ihostage felt American, especially the constant music which turned it into melodrama and sentimentalized the story. The dialogue was often over written, as though they were explaining info to a not very bright audience. Dog Day Afternoon this is not. The great acting of Pacino, Cazale, Durning, etc. Reminds one how far films can go. Although I enjoyed ihostage overall, i certainly hoped for more.

A suicide bomber takes a hostage in an Apple Store.

This was based on a real event. Maybe this is riveting to Dutch people, but I found it a bit lifeless in spots. The story is interesting, but the parts that involve the hostages sometimes feel like cheap dramatic reenactments on a TV show. These scenes could have been nail-biters. The intensity just wasn't there, though.

The scenes with the police were better, I thought. They got to move around more and didn't have to constantly act terrified. More scenes with the police might have helped the movie move along a bit. Some of the scenes with the hostages were tense, though, and I thought they handled one scene in particular well, where there was a potential medical emergency.

We never really learn a lot about any of the characters, and the drama isn't exactly the most intense thing ever. It's an adequate time-passer on Netflix, though. As a bonus, the English dub is pretty good.

For a Dutch movie, it was really impressive. There are not many Dutch movies that are this strong. The acting of most actors was really good. However, they rushed some scenes and took their time with others.

Seeing how all of this went from the insider and outsider perspective, instead of only from the media, was a nice point of view. The main parts that were in the media were also in the movie, what I personal really liked.

However, I would have preferred some scenes to be shorter, and others (like the ending of the movie) to be a bit longer.

But besides all of this, it was a really good movie. It is something I didn't expect for a Dutch movie!!! Impressive.