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7.3/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 7.3/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. The Kidnapping remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
If you like movies that feel like a cold breeze in an attic, yeah, watch it. If you need pacing that moves faster than a grazing cow, you are going to be bored to tears. This is for people who like stories that feel dusty and ancient.
Firmin kidnaps Elsi because of a dead dog. It is such a petty, brutal catalyst for a whole movie. Most films would want a bigger reason for a kidnapping, but this one just goes for it.
The whole thing feels like it was filmed in a village where nobody has smiled since 1890. The lighting is harsh, and the shadows look like they are trying to hide something. It reminds me of the claustrophobic dread in Sinister Harvest, but with more sheep and less focus.
Nadia Sibirskaïa is just haunting as Elsi. She does more with a single look out of a window than most actors do in a whole monologue. There is this one scene where she is just staring at Mânu, the village idiot, and you can see the wheels turning. She is not a damsel; she is a snake in the grass.
I kept wondering why nobody in the village seems to care that a woman is being held in a house right down the road. It feels less like a real town and more like a fever dream. The logic is thin, but the atmosphere makes up for it. It is not quite as experimental as The Seashell and the Clergyman, but it definitely has its own weird rhythm.
The pacing is a bit of a mess, honestly. It drags in the middle, then suddenly everything happens at once. You get the feeling the writers weren't quite sure how to end the damn thing until they just decided to stop.
Whatever. It sticks with you. You finish it, you close the laptop, and you still feel a bit dirty. That is a win in my book. 🐑