Hammerman Ikon

Hammerman Ikon Film Guide

The Disappearance of Alice Creed
2009
***½
Director: J Blakeson
Cast: Gemma Arterton, Martin Compston, Eddie Marsan

J Blakeson's feature debut kicks off with a terrific dialogue-free scene in which two men reconstruct an apartment as a hostage room. These two ex-cons then continue with their actual plan to kidnap a millionaire's daughter for a £2M ransom. This taut thriller takes place mostly inside the apartment, but the performances are strong and Blakeson's script offers enough twists and turns to keep us on the edge of our seat. When the stakes rise, the sharp and well-drilled kidnappers inevitably and somewhat predictably begin to make increasingly stupid decisions.