Review of Stockholm (2019) by Maxebryan — 22 Apr 2019

Stockholm is an enjoyable hostage/heist film based around the event that coined the phrase, “Stockholm Syndrome.” Which, if you don’t know, is when a captee feels sympathy for their captor. The film takes a highly dramatic subject matter and presents it as a comedy, which made it both easier and more fun for its audience to process and understand how a person might actually succumb to Stockholm syndrome.

The screenplay was cleverly written so that you too, the viewer, might have found yourself sympathizing with the criminal/captor of this tale as his main goal seemed to be nothing more malicious than to get his buddy out of jail.

Part of what might have swayed you, and what eventually swayed the hostages, was that he often went out of way to care for his hostages and ensure they were treated while they were held captive. This included letting one of them phone her family and requesting tampons from the police for another.

It was all very funny and as the film suggests early on, very “absurd,” but aside from the story, the 70’s aesthetics were nailed perfectly with big budget b-roll of a 70’s Stockholm, an attractive color pallet focused mostly on orange and teal, and some Bob Dylan songs included in the film’s soundtrack.

The acting was also memorable and noteworthy with primary characters portrayed by Noomi Rapace, Ethan Hawke, and Mark Strong. A good film worth watching.