By Parker Sublette
Staff Writer
The new original Netflix series “Captive” intrigues viewers with shocking testimonial and revealing footage. Sadly, the show falls short with poor acting and its cheap dramatic reenactments, making the dreary series a more dour viewing experience.
The documentary series follows the stories of people’s firsthand accounts of being kidnapped or held hostage, all of which occur in a different country. Each of the 8 episodes are a reenactment of a specific story, and also contain narration recounted by the victim of the event.
“Captive” keeps audiences infatuated, as events are told directly by the victims of the kidnappings. In some cases, the kidnappers themselves are incorporated into the series, adding a convincing and fascinating aspect to the series. These firsthand accounts lend incredible an incredibly realistic tone to the stories, giving viewers a closer look into these incredibly traumatic experiences.
Some episodes contain genuine footage from the actual events. For example, the first episode, which revolves around a prison riot, has footage showing the aftermath of the dire conflict. This footage is extremely graphic, which gives the stories a deeper sense of reality. This aspect enhances the series, as it makes the vivid story telling seem not so far-fetched.
A key part of the show’s formula is the reenactments of the events being told. Obviously there isn’t footage of every part of each story, and oftentimes the real footage is only of the aftermath. The dramatic reenactments give an important visual aspect to the tales and is much more interesting than just watching a few people talk for an hour.
However, heavy use of complex cinematography and excessive sound design that were intended to add to the tension to the dramatmic scenes , simply take away from the realism of of the reenactments, detracting from the believability of the show.
Poor acting also dilutes the quality of the series. The actors in the reenactments go over the top with unrealistic reactions and forced dialogue. The actors try too hard to portray the raw emotions present in a situation like a hostage crisis, cheapening the series with unconvincing reactions.
The show is extremely dreary in its composition. Even though kidnapping isn’t a joyful topic, the show seems to deliberately convey a strong depressing tone. In most cases, even if a grotesque subject, documentaries are informative and enlightening, but this series presents such harrowing experiences that it is hard to find any enjoyment in the show.
Each episode for “Captive” has a running time of one hour per episode, which is far too long for a sensitive topic. Each episode grows to become tiresome, as watching an hour long story about someone’s traumatic experiences taakes an emotional toll on viewers. This makes the series less enjoyable to watch as it becomes a burden to finish the intense series.
Though “Captive” is a credible and interesting series that contains gripping plotlines, the emotionally taxing series proves to be derpessing and too lengthy for the subject matter, failing to be a new hit Netflix Original.
The first 8 episodes of “Captive” are now available to live stream on Netflix.
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