Captive State

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2:22

Captive State

PG-13

2019

1h 49m

Sci-Fi

Mystery & Thriller

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

42%

Tomatometer

79 Reviews

40%

Popcornmeter

500+ Ratings

After 10 years of extraterrestrial occupation, residents of Chicago must decide whether to continue to live under alien rule or support the resistance. When young Gabriel Drummond joins the insurgency, he soon finds himself under careful scrutiny from a shadowy figure who's trying to crush the rebellion and its plans for freedom.

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Critics Consensus

This sci-fi thriller may not necessarily leave viewers in a Captive State, but it offers reasonably diverting alien invasion action with ambitious political undertones.

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Dmitry Samarov

Chicago Reader

03/28/2019

Whether our streets are under assault by alien insects or craven speculators, if a filmmaker shows the places we know and love, we will care about the story's fate, no matter how far-fetched.

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Matthew Monagle

Austin Chronicle

03/21/2019

3/5

At its best, Captive State blends imaginative science-fiction with the caliber of detail-oriented espionage you might find in an Alan J. Pakula film.

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Leah Pickett

Chicago Reader

03/16/2019

Overall it's a mess, compounded by murky CGI and some unrealistic performances.

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Nyle Coleman

InSession Film

05/02/2024

B

This new take on alien invasion took a moment for me to accept but in the end, Captive State is a brilliant film.

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Manuel São Bento

MSB Reviews

07/24/2023

C-

One of those movies that come out every year showing tremendous potential, an innovative and intriguing premise, but in the end, it just isn’t able to succeed.

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Josh Parham

Next Best Picture

06/04/2022

5/10

The world building provided could have been stronger, but it’s enough of a foundation to be informative and interesting.

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B M

@BeeMann Dec 30

Don't listen to the collaborators downvoting this movie. (Of course they don't want you to see it.) The marching band scene alone is epic, creepy, brilliant. Watch this if you like stories about dystopias or aliens or resistance or fighting fear with hope.

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Sylk B

@Scot.B Dec 18

I've watched this 12 times since it was released. I don't understand why it is not more respected. Such a really great movie. If you haven't watched yet you should.

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Ripper J

@RJ2099 Nov 30

Interesting premise and theme, but the pacing, like much of the modern "entertainment" industry, is broken. The first hour of the movie could have been done in 10 minutes because most of it was filled with drawn out scenes of characters doing nothing. Brushing their teeth, driving, walking (so much walking), sitting, staring off into space. They were not even introducing the setting, plot or characters. It was just nothing. The second half was still filled with too much empty space, but at least the plot finally started moving. While the pacing ruined the movie, the acting was decent and the story was passable. But overall, this slog was a chore to get through because of the pacing.

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Mark R

@mvru2 Jul 29

I want to thank all critics & audience members who went against the majority & recommended this movie. As a sci-fi, action thriller with a resistance theme to the "invaders/occupiers", this was about as good as I have ever seen. I'm so glad to have stumbled on the 40% or so of reviews that said similar things. Well worth the watch...just have to stick with it through the first 40 minutes, and then it all starts to make more & more sense. Well done!

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Chantal C

@RT93394254 Jul 27

This is an astonishingly underrated movie. The acting was incredible, and as someone who has watched countless hours of SciFy, I'm hard to please. They had such a griping view of alien invasion, human responses (as there will always be collaborators and those who would fight for freedom), and then the end? When Gabriel looks at that final video? The way it ends with Goodman and his looking directly at the camera with resolve, I couldn't look away.

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Jonathan P

@RT95092422 02/09/2025

Excellent. Thankfully I watched the film to make up my own mind instead of following the shallow reviews on here.

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Rupert Wyatt

Director

John Goodman

William Mulligan

Ashton Sanders

Gabriel Drummond

Jonathan Majors

Rafe Drummond

Vera Farmiga

Jane Doe

Kevin Dunn

Commissioner Eugene Igoe

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Captive State: Trailer 1

2:22

Captive State: Teaser Trailer 2

1:25

Captive State: Teaser Trailer 1

1:28

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Synopsis

After 10 years of extraterrestrial occupation, residents of Chicago must decide whether to continue to live under alien rule or support the resistance. When young Gabriel Drummond joins the insurgency, he soon finds himself under careful scrutiny from a shadowy figure who's trying to crush the rebellion and its plans for freedom.

Director: Rupert Wyatt
Producer: David Crockett
Screenwriter: Erica Beeney
Distributor: Focus Features
Production Co: Participant Media, Lightfuse & Gettaway
Rating: PG-13 (Drug Material|Brief Language|Sci-Fi Violence and Action|Some Sexual Content)
Genre: Sci-Fi, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Mar 15, 2019, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Jun 11, 2019
Box Office (Gross USA): $5.9M
Runtime: 1h 49m
Sound Mix: Dolby Digital
Aspect Ratio: Scope (2.35:1)

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