Rapt

Rapt French Poster

Based on a real life hostage incident that occurred in Belgium in the late 1970’s Rapt (2009) updates the story and shifts the setting to Paris. Stanislas Graff (Yvan Attal) is the talented Chief Executive Officer of a multi national company, he has a sophisticated wife (Anne Consigny) two teenage girls but he also conceals a secret life! Graff has a mistress tucked up in a very well furnished apartment in a fashionable district of Paris and has a very serious gambling problem that is a constant drain on his bank balance. One morning, on his chauffeur driven journey to the office, he is kidnapped by a gang of masked men and whisked away to a secret location. His capturers cut off one of his fingers and send it to his family along with a ransom note demanding a very large sum of money. Because of the consequences of his gambling habit the family are unable to meet the demand. This is only the beginning of Graff’s problems.

Not as exciting as it premise makes it seem, can be a weary watch at times although Yvan Attal performance is very good and makes the characters situation credible. Perhaps cutting the length of the movie with a little sharper editing would have made all the difference between an average thriller and a very good one.