A Hijacking
Dir: Tobias Lindholm
2012
****
Tobias Lindholm's A Hijacking is not your archetype action thriller. Interestingly the actual hijacking is absent in the final cut of the film, instead, Lindholm focuses more on the real situations ahead. The film is of two halves. On one half we see the hijacking through the eyes of the ships cook, we see his isolation, not knowing what will become of himself and the other crew members, the misery of being held captive at gun point etc. The other half is from the point of view of the owner of the ship being held captive, the one the ransom is focus on. Although safe in the comforts of his office in Copenhagen we see his isolation, not knowing what will become of his crew members, the misery of being held captive knowing their lives are at risk and the responsibilities that come from that etc. They are both in a near identical situation, both are being held at ransom. The conclusion is chillingly real and is a welcome antidote to the typical whooping of success at the end of most ransom movies. The differences are few, it's the attention to the similarities that is what is so clever about the film and make it the intriguing thriller it is, one of the best made in the last decade. Tobias Lindholm is a superb writer and I look forward to much more from him.