The Captive Page #3

Synopsis: Teenager Cassandra is locked up against her will unable to contact her family to let them know she's still alive. Flashback to eight years ago when 9-year-old Cass was abducted from her father's truck and he goes straight to the authorities who immediately peg him as the prime suspect. Eight years later, her father, Matthew, is still being investigated by the police who are also trying to crack the bigger problem of crimes against children, Matthew's marriage has deteriorated and leads in the case are hard to come by. So much time but so little has changed and it's going to be up to Matthew and Cassandra herself to repair the estranged family.
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Director(s): Atom Egoyan
Production: A24 and DIRECTV
  1 win & 7 nominations.
 
IMDB:
5.9
Metacritic:
36
Rotten Tomatoes:
30%
R
Year:
2014
112 min
Website
669 Views


I see you got an assault charge?

Is that right?

Teenage daddies with baby girls

shouldn't get into barroom brawls.

Especially if they're not

old enough to drink.

My wife knows about that.

I was eighteen years old.

The fight was over her.

So what, you quit school, you got a job

and now nine years later, you're broke.

Yeah, money's tight. I get it.

I heard you say something

to your wife about a...

about a phone call.

She called you, right?

You didn't tell us about that.

My partner's asking her

about that right now.

Wondering if she spoke to

your daughter at that time.

I guess if she didn't...

if she didn't, then where is she?

She's laying down in the back of the cab.

That's what she does. It's her little space.

But don't kids stop taking afternoon naps

when they're like three or four years old?

I mean, if my dad's buying my

favourite pie, I'm with him. I'm excited.

Or I'm watching from the

car window, at least.

Your business failed, right?

Was it TM Landscaping?

You got bills piling up.

You're about to go into bankruptcy.

Like I said before, I get it.

I do, I get it.

What the f*** are you talking about?

Big money for lending your

daughter to some demented pal

for a few days.

Then she's gonna show up,

- damaged, but otherwise...

- You sick f***er!

Excuse me, I'll be right back.

This is what I do, okay? I give a

little shake, I see what falls out.

As well, as give the judge every

reason to dismiss this case.

He's not as innocent as he seems.

- Maybe he is.

- He's got a criminal record.

Assault. As well as a motive.

He owes money through his ears.

So he creates an opportunity,

driving alone on a deserted highway.

Give me a break.

Hey!

He reminds me of someone.

Somebody from your past.

Yeah, from my past.

This is the present.

Do you actually believe any of the things

he said to Matt the night we came in?

I'm not going to excuse the way

that he behaved with Matthew.

He's dealt with a lot of cases

where someone from the family,

even a parent, is involved.

Matthew reminded him of someone.

- Someone personal.

- That's just bullshit.

Matthew loved Cassandra more

than anything in this world.

He still loves her.

Of course.

I don't know if I want

to do this anymore.

I understand. It's up to you.

Happy to meet you when you need.

On this pillow you will find...

a teeny-tiny tooth of mine.

So while I sleep, where dreams are made

let's see if we can make this trade.

Money for teeth.

It just seems strange to

exchange them for money.

But it's something we all do.

Or did.

And if there ever was a Tooth

Fairy that visited me here,

I'm sure there's something more useful

she could do than leaving me a dollar.

Or maybe it's just a trick.

A trick or a gimmick.

A gimmick you don't really need.

Yes, that's the proper word.

Tina...

How are you?

I'm fine, I guess.

Hard to believe I've been coming

to see you for six years.

You look really good.

Better than last time.

Yeah, I was a mess last time.

How's Matthew?

He's fine.

Can I ask what's happening?

I still can't look at him.

I see Cass.

I get mad. I say awful things.

Is he completely out of the picture?

- Last time...

- No.

I was just speaking to him, actually.

He said that...

that he wanted to come here.

So why didn't he?

I called him and left him a message.

He thought I'd end up screaming at him.

Would you?

Probably.

He still thinks he's gonna

find her on his own.

Does he tell you how?

You mean does he have a plan?

Matthew?

Oh yeah. His plan is that

he's on the road a lot.

He keeps his eyes open. Idiot.

I don't sound very nice, do I?

I've heard a lot worse.

Yeah, I bet.

I couldn't do what you do.

You have a daughter?

No.

That's Jeffrey's niece, Jennifer.

- They're really close.

- That's nice.

So should we start?

When you think of Cass,

what do you see?

What do I see?

Mostly I think about her skating.

She loved it so much.

She and Albert,

that was her partner, they...

they talked about going to the Olympics.

And Matt still goes to the rink sometimes

just to watch Albert practice.

It's like they're both just

waiting for Cass to come back.

And Albert's really strong.

So if Cass stays small like me...

They could carry on where they left off.

We're here.

Mrs. Lane.

Hi.

Hello.

Come in.

Please.

Okay.

Mrs. Lane, do you know a

lot of illegal images of kids

are circulated on the internet?

And any picture like that is actual

evidence of where a crime has taken place.

Do you understand that?

We study these crime scene images.

We use whatever information

we get out of them to track

down the people who trade

in these illegal pictures.

To find the children. To rescue them.

Sometimes to gain access

to certain rooms,

I play a role.

I try and fit in with the

other men who are...

who are watching the abuse

that's taking place in a room.

The men are all connected to a camera.

They might give directions

or participate.

- A live camera that's in a room.

- Doing what?

Watching a child.

Jeffrey believes that he may

have found some images of Cass.

- You found her?

- No. No, no, no. Just a...

a few screen grabs. Pictures. That's it.

They were recent.

So the good...

- the really good news...

- She's alive.

Mrs. Lane?

Tina?

Do you think this could be Cass?

I think so.

Hey... How'd it go?

Matthew, listen to me.

They showed me a picture of her.

They found a picture of her.

What do you mean, a picture of Cass?

From where?

They don't know.

They found it on a computer.

Well, when was...

when was the picture from?

They don't know. It was just her face.

They just showed me a picture of her face.

But it's... it's her, Matthew, it's her.

What's she doing in the photo?

Well...

Tina?

Like I said, they... they don't know.

You know, it was just her face. But...

but they said that she was

talking to another girl.

Like a younger girl.

Okay, but... okay. Okay, I got it.

But, what... what's she actually

doing in the... in the picture?

Like, I said, they don't know. Like...

You could have been there and then

you would know all of this already.

I said they don't know.

Okay?

But it was her. It was

her face. And they said...

they said that... you know,

they're always looking for children

and that Cass is like a...

I can't remember exactly what they said.

But they said she's like a...

like a welcoming face on a gateway.

Or... or something like that.

Gateway? What do you mean a gateway?

To what?

Tina?

To a ring, they said.

Welcoming face to a gateway, to a ring.

She's helping lure other kids...

Honey...

They've made her like them.

That's what happened to

our daughter, Matthew.

She's helping recruit other kids.

That's what happened

when you left her alone.

Those monsters came and took her.

And now she sits with her smiling face

and talks to other babies.

And then they go and get them.

That's what happened to her

when you left her alone.

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Atom Egoyan

Atom Egoyan, CC is a Canadian director, writer, producer and former actor. Egoyan made his career breakthrough with Exotica, a film set primarily in and around the fictional Exotica strip club. more…

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Submitted on August 05, 2018

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