This commentary contains some spoilers and may be better read after the screenings.
You may well be reading this on your phone. You may well have heard about this festival on social media. You may well post about your evening after you leave the cinema (and, in all honesty, we’d love you to do just that). And maybe, just maybe, Rita Ora will retweet you…
Hostages begins explosively. It hurls the viewer into the panicked aftermath of a possible terrorist attack in a London hotel. Four strangers find themselves cowering together in a hotel room, aware that their safety may very well depend on their silence. As the smoke clears, however, Charlie (Charlotte Ritchie) can’t stop herself from posting and each post is another detonation, scattering verbal shrapnel and endangering the people she finds herself hiding with. But as she becomes an online sensation, nothing will stop her, not even a few terrorists…
When the terrorists in the film are revealed to be spectres only, the film’s political commentary does not drop away. The real hostage-taking here has nothing to do with gun-wielding extremists. Charlie is revealed to be a hostage to her phone and to the platforms which – momentarily – make her the promise of stardom. With razor sharp insight, the film asks: how many of us would risk everything for a few more followers?
It’s probably fair to say that this is not an obviously funny scenario. Terrorism and the horror of being held hostage are all too real nightmares in the world. And every day we see the potential fallout of life online. But the magnificence of the film lies in its harnessing of comedy to make its political points. The hilarity of Hostages is not a distraction from or a decoration on the serious stuff; the comedy is fundamental as the absurd realities of our virtual lives are served back to us, slightly amplified and wonderfully, terribly, shamefully funny.
The film boasts a stellar comedy cast. Charlotte Ritchie, Tanya Moodie, Nicholas Asbury, Raj Ghatak, and Luke McQueen are all extraordinary, balancing compellingly believable terror with some outstanding verbal and physical humour. Breathing exercises, bathroom rituals, and a battle with a hotel air conditioner all become magnificently funny. Jim Owen’s direction uses visual styles drawn from social media, 24-hour news, and documentary to complement both the film’s political comment and the rising and hilarious absurdity. Hostages is perfectly timely, the comedy which our funny little cultural moment needs.
You may well be reading this on your phone. You may well have heard about this festival on social media. You may well post about your evening after you leave the cinema. And we hope that you have a – perhaps just slightly awkward – chuckle as you do…
2025
Directed and written by Jim Owen
Charlotte Ritchie (Charlie)
Tanya Moodie (Rochelle)
Nicholas Asbury (Keith)
Raj Ghatak (Himmat)
Luke McQueen (David)