97% A Hijacking

All Critics (72) | Top Critics (21) | Fresh (70) | Rotten (2)

Gripping and tightly focused.

Lindholm rations the meat and potatoes of plot to keep us captive at the bargaining table. It's a sadistic ploy that produces a real payoff.

A Hijacking is one of those perfect films that crop up every few years to prove that with true artistry, even the most exhausted genre can yield something new, rich, and strange.

Lindholm justifies his confidence in a visual approach that's refreshingly realistic.

To refuse to call A Hijacking a thriller is not to say it isn't thrilling, in a dryly cerebral way.

It's the second feature from the young writer-director Tobias Lindholm, and it showcases his gift for tightly focused stories told without an ounce of fat.

A Hijacking is more about one incident than about how it relates universally, but in thoughtfully exploring the specifics and emotions of that incident, Lindholm is able to show how modern life sometimes seems devoid of any accord.

A lean, stressful nail-biter, smart, well-written, nicely shot and wonderfully performed.

[Omar and Mikkel are] like Marcus and McTeague in Frank Norris's 1899 novel, handcuffed to each other in a struggle that could well end in mutually assured destruction.

Tobias Lindholm's slow-burning thriller makes a bid for verisimilitude that extends well beyond the use of natural light and handheld cameras.

Though the acting in "A Hijacking" is superb, the film is strictly a "follow-the-dots" offering. This is not entertainment. It is another overwhelmingly depressing foray into corporate greed.

"A Hijacking", if eligible, is an early contender for Best Foreign film at the 2014 Academy Awards.

It's an effective piece of work that will leave you longing for a shower, a nap, and a warm meal.

It's a radical departure from any thriller in stateside theaters.

A nail-biter of the highest order, A Hijacking is astonishingly emotional, gritty, and terrifying -- a genuine directorial achievement that should not be missed.

When the gut-wrenching conclusion of A Hijacking comes in the form of a single, random act, it's only then you realize how far you've been pulled into its emotional core.

A Hijacking delivers all the thrills the title suggests, but in none of the places you'd expect them.

The danger never reaches the level of chaos, but the subtext and metaphor in the slow-moving humanistic commentary on the motivations and byproducts of capitalism make for an intriguing film.

A smart movie derived out of the small moments that collectively comprise the hostage experience, rather than grandiose gestures.

Lindholm's you-are-there docudrama works as a tense thriller, but themes of negotiation and the ability to empathize provide a rich subtext.

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Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/a_hijacking/

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