By Staci Layne Wilson

Director Atom Egoyan made a big splash in the 90s with his most critically acclaimed film, The Sweet Hereafter (which was nominated for two Academy Awards). But the hereafter hasn’t always been so sweet. My favorite film of his, Where the Truth Lies, barely blipped on the public radar. 2009’s sexy thriller Chloe was a commercial success, followed by a flop (Devil’s Knot, based upon the famous West Memphis Three murder case).

So, where will his latest fit in? The Captive is a bit of an odd duck. It’s quite dated, feeling more like a skeevy child exploitation movie of the week from the 80’s (There’s Something About Amelia comes to mind), and it has all the subtlety of a sledgehammer… yet it’s oddly compelling and never boring thanks to twists, turns, and jumps back and forth in time.

Here’s the lowdown: Matthew (Ryan Reynolds) steps into a pie shop for a quick take-out and exits to find that his young daughter Cassandra has vanished without a trace from what he thought was the safety of his truck. Eventually her unsolved abduction destroys Matthew’s relationship with his wife, Tina (Mireille Enos), who suspects him in the foul play and yet can’t quite bring herself to leave him. Years later, when specialist detectives Nicole (Rosario Dawson) and Jeffrey (Scott Speedman) discover recent images of Cassandra on a kiddie-porn website, Matthew risks everything to ensure Cass’s safe return, even if it means interfering with the law.

While many of the things the characters do and say strain credibility and believability, there’s a gritty realism and abject eeriness to the bleak, snowy exteriors juxtaposed with cramped, seedy interior settings (basement, cheap motel, dreary police station). It’s reminiscent of other recent child-abduction and exploitation films such as Prisoners and The Frozen Ground, but there’s something just a little twistedly different that set it apart. Love him or loathe him, Egoyan does dance to the beat of his own cinematic drum.

The Captive will be out in theaters on December 12, 2014.

Rated R

1 Hour 52 Minutes