He has no secrets from me. Financially, at least. Much like that sentence, the characters at the centre of Gallic hostage drama Rapt conceal hidden, churning cores. Chief among them is Parisian businessman Stanislas Graff (Yvan Attal), whos arrogant, stinkingly rich and in real trouble. Kidnapped one day by a gang of brutal criminals who think nothing of lopping off a finger as a message, Graff is forced to come to terms with his preening existence, while his kidnappers enforce a ransom.
So far, so Dog Day Afternoon, or any number of other hostage dramas. Where Rapt draws the audience in is through the leisurely pacing, the carefully drawn characters and the subtle details. With writer/director Lucas Belvaux mining striking contrasts out of Graffs torturous prison and his anxious family awaiting news in his opulent apartment, the narrative sympathies are clearly not aligned with protagonist Graff, whos as much a mystery to the audience as he is revealed to be to his own family.
As Graff sinks increasingly into a bearded, shrivelled shell of a man, suffering in isolation, it is revealed that not only has he been unfaithful to his wife (early character beats indicated this) but that his work colleagues may be more ruthless than he likes to believe. As the situation worsens, Belvauxs screenplay makes the first of several refreshingly nuanced turns, with the suggestion that a ransom demand may be shirked altogether, as Graffs increasingly horrified family are caught in an uneasy position between sympathy and apathy for this wealthy, unfaithful wretch. Its a pleasingly pessimistic (realistic?) approach that avoids easy answers, with even the more familiar moments (the captor bonding with one of his assailants; the ransom demand chase across the city) being granted a multi-faceted edge.
Moreover, what really impresses about Rapt is how quiet it is – cutting dialogue piercing right to the heart of the complex situation only when necessary. Violence is fleeting and brief, and a clutch of brilliant performances (especially Anne Consigny as Graffs wife, Francoise) say more with pained facial expressions than with an entire monologue. Attals meanwhile brilliantly plays up to the deceptive simplicity inherent in the screenplay, moving beyond physical bells and whistles in the latter stages to portray a defiantly unpleasant person who may not actually deserve the salvation he craves. His performance is the moral grey area of the piece, refusing easy sentiment and sympathy. After all, even once their secrets have been revealed, does that mean a person is a closed book?
Overall Verdict: Intelligently scripted and directed and boasting excellent performances, Rapt resists easy cliché to instead become a haunting portrayal of humanity under duress, noteworthy in its examination of the both physical and emotional fallout arising from a horrifying situation.
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Reviewer: Sean Wilson