Caged (2010 film)
Caged (French: Captifs) is a 2010 French horror film directed and co-written by Yann Gozlan and it is based on a true story. The film is about a woman named Carole who is traumatized after seeing her friend Laura being killed by a dog twenty years ago. Carole works as an aid worker in former Yugoslavia and begins to leave from Kosovo with two co-workers, when she is kidnapped by an Albanian gang of masked men who deal with human organ trafficking.
| Caged | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Yann Gozlan |
| Produced by | Alain Benguigui Thomas Verhaeghe |
| Written by | Yann Gozlan Guillaume Lemans |
| Starring | Zoe Felix Éric Savin Arie Elmaleh Ivan Franek Igor Skreblin |
| Music by | Guillaume Feyler |
| Cinematography | Vincent Mathias |
| Edited by | Gregoire Sivan |
Production company | Sombrero Productions |
| Distributed by | Bac Films |
Release date |
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Running time | 83 minutes |
| Country | France |
| Language | French |
Plot
The film begins with a scene from Carole's childhood. She plays hide and seek with her friend Lorraine. When Carole goes looking for Lorraine, she finds her dead in a garage. She was killed by a dog. The same dog tries to attack Carole, but she manages to hide in a car.
Doctors Carole, Samir and Mathias work as volunteers in the former territory of Yugoslavia. After working there for a few months, they travel back to France together. Because of a roadblock, they have to take a detour and a short time later they are captured by masked men with weapons. When trying to escape, Mathias is shot in the leg, but he is treated immediately at her destination. Nevertheless, they are locked in a cellar. Samir and Carole share a cell that is only equipped with a toilet and a mattress, while Mathias is locked in a cell opposite. They don't know who kidnapped them or why they were kidnapped. There are other cells in the basement, and at least one man is also trapped with them down here.
The days go by, they get some food, a doctor examines them every now and then, but since they don't speak his language, they don't know any more than before. One day, Samir is suddenly taken by the kidnappers. A short time later they drive past the cells with Samir's corpse, the eyes and other organs are missing. Carole and Mathias notice that the kidnappers are organ dealers. Mathias manages to remove the lattice window with a converted mattress spring, but his attempt to escape fails because the kidnappers notice him. As a consequence, you weld the window to a metal plate. When Carole is taken to the surgery room, the doctor tries to cut out her eyes, but she manages to free her hand and stabs the doctor with a scalpel. Carole then gets a bolt cutter while she has to walk through a room with chained dogs, causing her childhood fears. When she enters an apartment above the basement, she meets a stout woman. A duel breaks out in the course of which Carole succeeds in drowning the woman in a bowl. She frees Mathias and a girl named Ana. When one of the kidnappers returns, Mathias kills him with the bolt cutter. Then Carole, Mathias and Ana run into the forest. The bandits notice the escape and free three dogs. Mathias can no longer keep up with Carole and Ana due to his gunshot wound and remains behind. He kills a dog with a stick. But the two other dogs tear him apart. Carole tells Ana to run into a nearby cornfield while she draws the dogs herself. When the dogs jump into Carole, she falls to the ground and sees a string that belongs to a grenade. When the dogs loosen the cord, the grenade explodes and shreds it, while Carole is only briefly anesthetized on the ears. Carole runs into the cornfield while two men run after them. One is armed with a rifle. The other finds Ana and pulls her out of the field, but Carole kills him with a stone. When they lie down on the ground to hide from the last kidnapper, he first walks past them. But then he sees the two of them running away and shoots Carole in the stomach. When he finally wants to kill her, she grabs a piece of wood, rams it in his foot, takes his rifle and shoots him in the head. In the end, Carole and Ana are transported away by two soldiers. For Carole Ana appears as her friend Lorraine, who was killed by a dog in childhood.
Cast
- Zoe Felix
- Éric Savin
- Arie Elmaleh
- Ivan Franek
- Igor Skreblin
- Margaux Guenier
- Philippe Krhajac
- Jana Bitternova
- Clara Barbosa
- Typhaine Hilaire
- Thais Fischer
- Goran Kostic
- Eric Kailey
- Sacha Mijovic[1]
Release
Caged was shown at Fantasy Filmfest on August 20, 2010.[2] It was also shown in competition at the 2010 Sitges Film Festival.[3][4] Caged did not have strong box office returns in Europe.[1]
Reception
Le Monde gave the film one star out of four noting that the captives are no more sympathetic than their torturers.[5] L'Express gave the film one star out of four calling it a "predictable thriller".[5] Paris Match gave the film two stars praising the film's star Zoe Felix.[5] Chronic'art gave the film a one star rating, noting that the pace of the film is lost but praised the Felix's acting.[5]
References
- Mintzer, Jordan (October 28, 2010). "Variety Review - Caged". Variety. Retrieved December 7, 2010.
- "Fantasy Filmfest". Fantasy Film Fest. Archived from the original on 2010-11-21. Retrieved December 7, 2010.
- "Sitges Film Festival > Captifs". Sitges Film Festival. Retrieved October 7, 2010.
- Brown, Todd (September 17, 2010). "Complete 2010 Sitges Lineup Announced!". Twitch. Archived from the original on January 8, 2011. Retrieved December 7, 2010.
- "Captifs de Yann Gozlan". Premiere (in French). Retrieved December 30, 2010.