WHAT’S IT ABOUT
When a gunman enters an Apple Store in the heart of Amsterdam, the police face a delicate challenge to resolve the stand-off.
MOVIESinMO REVIEW
Picture this: super intense hostage crisis, and yet something about it makes you glance at your watch. That’s exactly what Netflix’s “iHostage” does. The movie recreates a real-life incident in February 2022 when a gunman fired shots at an Apple Store in Amsterdam. Ilian, who had gone to buy some AirPods after losing his on a train, is the one who finds himself dragged into the situation. What awful timing – he’s turned into a human shield when a gunman, Ammar, bursts in and takes everyone hostage. What was meant to be absolutely electrifying was, in fact, quite dull. The greatest issue? I simply didn’t care about anyone on the screen. The movie doesn’t do anything to make us care about these individuals. Ilian and Ammar, the supposed heroes of this story, are total strangers for the duration. Ammar just keeps complaining, “the system wronged me,” while the negotiators just keep saying, “we understand,” over and over again. Maybe that’s how it went down, but seriously – can’t we do better than that? What’s the purpose of even making a movie if you’re just cutting and pasting from a Wikipedia article? The film starts with a shock – one moment, Ilian’s shopping for AirPods, the next there’s a gun to his head. But after the shock wears off, we’re left stuck watching Ammar staring vacant-eyed out of windows while cradling a confused Ilian in his arms. The would-be terrorist never really feels threatening. Instead, he seems bored, and quite frankly, so was I after 30 minutes had elapsed. Director Bobby Boermans goes to great lengths to make everything appear realistic. He uses CCTV footage and body cameras, gets all the police procedures right, and makes the Apple Store look exactly like. well, an Apple Store. But he completely neglects to insert any suspense into the film. I never once felt scared for the hostages or even concerned that they would not make it out alive. There’s even a scene where someone may be having a heart attack, but it’s filmed in a way that I just don’t care. It’s as if basic storytelling has completely fallen by the wayside here. The performances are pretty generic. Soufiane Moussouli as Ammar starts off well before sorta fading away. Admir Sehovic as Ilian doesn’t have much to do but appear on edge until the finale. The best part is Marcel Hensema’s character screaming at an influencer who’s putting hidden hostages in danger by livestreaming – it’s the one spot that actually resonates. Hey, those hidden hostages, why do we not get to see more of them? We do catch some of the characters in a supply closet, packed in, and others upstairs, but then hardly does the film go back to them. It’s such a lost opportunity as if what’s happening on the main floor is so uninteresting. The police in this film are totally one-dimensional; they simply do their job with no sense of flair whatsoever. I guess it’s realistic, but that doesn’t make it fun to watch. Everyone’s so serious, so there’s basically no tension or drama at all. The biggest letdown is Ammar himself. He’s not menacing or complicated—just annoying. He’ll just scream randomly at times to let us know he’s a bad guy, but it’s pathetic rather than threatening. It’s hard to have tension when the villain isn’t believable. So, while I was checking out this movie, I stumbled upon some short clips of the real incident online. That’s when it hit me – maybe there just wasn’t enough to this whole thing to make a full movie out of it. Those 30-second news clips pretty much told me everything I needed to know. So, why stretch it into a feature film if there’s nothing really worth adding? If you’re in the mood for some solid hostage thrillers, skip this and watch “Dog Day Afternoon,” “Captain Phillips,” or heck, even “Die Hard” instead. Or go for less obvious options like “Yannick,” “Breaking,” or “Prime Time.” Even “Phone Booth” manages to get more tension out of a confined space than this Apple Store saga. The only good parts are when the cops try to save some hostages, and in the end, the last bits of the crisis actually give you some of that tension that should’ve been there from the start. But honestly, it’s way too little and way too late. “IHostage” gets the facts correct but is so off the mark on why films are entertaining to view. There is no character development, no tension, and definitely no purpose. It’s a dramatized news report more than a thrilling film. Being as close to reality as it is without providing any substance makes it much more hollow than those display cases in the Apple Store. I’m not saying filmmakers should go overboard with real events, but they must dig up the human story behind them. What was going through these people’s minds? What scared them? What did they take away from the whole experience? If you don’t pose these questions, you’re left with a dry reenactment and wondering why on earth someone bothered filming it at all. So, “iHostage” is like those dummy demo phones in Apple Stores – they look real at first, but when you try to take a shot, you’ll realize there’s actually nothing there.
OUR RATING – A MISSED OPPORTUNITY 2