Held for Ransom

Daniel Rye, a Danish photojournalist, is kidnapped by Islamic State in Syria in 2013 while documenting the refugee crisis. He is held for 398 days. In the same cell is the American journalist James Foley. In Denmark his family, in a country whose government will not legally pay ransom, sets out to raise the money themselves. Niels Arden Oplev directs. Esben Smed plays Daniel, Toby Kebbell plays Foley, Anders W. Berthelsen plays Arthur, the hostage negotiator. The source is Puk Damsgård's book. The film runs two strands, and its force comes from the split. On one side the men in the cell; on the other a family by a telephone in Denmark and a town collecting donations. The state does not pay, so Daniel's release depends on what his family can raise. Foley is the hardest part of it. America does not pay either, and he does not come out; he was killed in 2014. The film presents that not as fate but as the consequence of two different state policies. Esben Smed lost a great deal of weight for the part, and the physical collapse is visible on screen. Who it is for: viewers who want hard drama built on real events, and Scandinavian cinema. Who it is not for: the torture scenes are long and detailed, and knowing the outcome in advance does not reduce the tension. It increases it.