''Captives'' is a 1994 British romantic crime

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super- ...

directed by Angela Pope and written by the Dublin screenwriter Frank Deasy. It stars

Julia Ormond Julia Karin Ormond (born 4 January 1965) is an English actress. She rose to prominence by appearing in ''The Baby of Mâcon'' (1993), ''Legends of the Fall'' (1994), '' First Knight'' (1995), '' Sabrina'' (1995), ''Smilla's Sense of Snow'' (199 ...

Tim Roth Timothy Simon Roth (born 14 May 1961) is an English actor and producer. He began acting on films and television series in the 1980s. He was among a group of prominent British actors of the era, the " Brit Pack". He made his television debut ...

and Keith Allen. The picture was selected as the opening film in the Venetian Nights section of the 1994

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival h ...

, in addition to its selection for Gala Presentation at the 1994

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a perman ...

Plot

After the break-up of her marriage to Simon (

Peter Capaldi Peter Dougan Capaldi (; born 14 April 1958) is a Scottish actor, director, writer and musician. He portrayed the twelfth incarnation of the Doctor in ''Doctor Who'' (2013–2017) and Malcolm Tucker in '' The Thick of It'' (2005–2012), for ...

), dentist Rachel Clifford (

) throws herself into work by taking an extra assignment at a local

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

prison. One of her patients is Philip (

), a man nearing the end of a ten-year sentence for a crime he refuses to reveal. She later sees him on the street when he is released to attend his college class. They form a friendship that eventually turns into a secret relationship. Their relationship becomes strained when Rachel realises Philip is serving time for the murder of his wife. Another inmate, Towler (

Colin Salmon Colin Salmon (born ) is a British actor. He is known for playing Charles Robinson in three James Bond films and James "One" Shade in the ''Resident Evil'' film series. He has had roles on many television series such as ''Doctor Who'', ''Merli ...

), sells drugs within the prison. He uncovers Rachel and Philip's relationship and uses his associate Kenny ( Mark Strong) to intimidate her into smuggling a gun into the prison. She ultimately cannot go through with it and Philip, realising that she is out of her depth, reveals their relationship to the authorities in order to secure her help. When Kenny confronts Rachel in a diner, she uses the gun to shoot him as the police arrive. In the aftermath, Rachel is found to have shot Kenny in self-defecse and Philip is transferred to another prison. In spite of everything that has occurred, she indicates that she would like to continue her relationship with him.

Production

The film was a

BBC Films BBC Film (formerly BBC Films) is the feature film-making arm of the BBC. It was founded on 18 June 1990, and has produced or co-produced some of the most successful British films of recent years, including '' Truly, Madly, Deeply'', '' Alan Pa ...

co-production with Distant Horizon.

Cast

as Rachel Clifford *

as Philip Chaney * Keith Allen as Lenny * Mark Strong as Kenny *

Siobhan Redmond Siobhan Redmond, ( ; born 27 July 1959) is a Scottish actress, a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, and known for various stage, audio and television roles. Early life Siobhan Redmond was born on 27 July 1959 in the Tollcross area of ...

as Sue *

as Simon *

as Towler *

Richard Hawley Richard Willis Hawley (born 17 January 1967) is an English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer. After his first band Treebound Story (formed while he was still at school) broke up, Hawley found success as a member of Britpop band Longp ...

as Sexton * Annette Badland as Maggie *

Jeff Nuttall Jeffrey Addison Nuttall (8 July 1933 – 4 January 2004) was an English poet, publisher, actor, painter, sculptor, jazz trumpeter, anarchist and social commentator who was a key part of the British 1960s counter-culture. He was the brother of l ...

as Harold *

Kenneth Cope Kenneth Charles Cope (born 14 April 1931) is an English retired actor and scriptwriter. He is best known for his roles as Marty Hopkirk in ''Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)'', Jed Stone in ''Coronation Street'' and Ray Hilton in '' Brookside ...

as Dr. Hockley * Bill Moody as Surgery Officer * Nathan Dambuza as Moses * Christina Collingridge as Katie * Victoria Scarborough as Dental Nurse * Anthony Kernan as "Blackie"

Reception

The movie received a mixed response.

Box office

The movie debuted at No.6.

References

External links

* * * 1994 films BBC Film films British independent films 1994 romantic drama films British prison drama films Films about dentistry Films scored by Colin Towns British romantic drama films 1994 independent films Romantic crime films 1990s English-language films 1990s British films {{1990s-romantic-drama-film-stub