After debuting at the end of last week, Netflix’s new political thriller has quickly taken over the streaming platform. Described as an “action-packed political thriller,” the limited series centers on a British Prime Minister, who finds herself in an impossible situation after her husband is kidnapped, forcing her to go head-to-head with the French President, who is also being threatened.
Appropriately titled Hostage, the miniseries is now dominating Netflix on both the global stage and in the United States, standing firm at #1 and #2, respectively, in the streamer’s Top 10. Also proving popular on the streamer are the likes of Kill Tony: Mayhem at Madison Square Garden, The Hunting Wives, Wednesday, and the new documentary Katrina: Come Hell and High Water.
Created by Matt Charman, Hostage stars Suranne Jones as British Prime Minister Abigail Dalton alongside Julie Delpy as Vivienne Toussaint, the President of France. It’s worth noting that these political powerhouses and the situation they find themselves in are completely fictional, with the real-world currently facing more than enough problems without Britain and France going toe-to-toe. You can check out the official synopsis for Hostage below…
“When the British prime minister’s husband is kidnapped and the French president starts receiving threats, both leaders must face an impossible choice.”
‘Hostage’ Has Proven to Be Another Divisive Netflix Series
While the series may be dominating Netflix right now, Hostage has proven to be deeply divisive among critics and audiences. The former was clearly enamored with the limited series, awarding the show a hugely impressive and “certified fresh” score of 83% on Rotten Tomatoes, while the latter group’s reactions have resulted in a score of just 43% on the Popcornmeter.
Isabella Soares of Collider calls the series the perfect replacement for the likes of The Diplomat, saying, “If you’ve been on the lookout for another compelling series that resembles The Diplomat or Anatomy of a Scandal, Hostage is a fitting replacement.” A perfect rating of 4/4 was awarded by Anne Brodie of What She Said, who concluded, “Netflix’s pulse pounder is such dark fun, pitting women against one another each with secrets and lies to contain and answering to others who have them in their power. Yikes!”
Much praise has been heaped on lead performers Suranne Jones and Julie Delpy, with Lucy Mangan of The Guardian saying, “It’s a rollicking, propulsive and compulsive yarn that also manages to give two great parts to two women of a certain age then leaves them to get on with it as characters rather than symbols.” Joel Keller of Decider adds, “Hostage is a solid political thriller made better by the performances of Suranne Jones and Julie Delpy, especially when they’re on screen together.”
Rotten Tomatoes users, though, have been far more critical. Even brutal. “Lazy, stupid writing and overreliance on cliches from the first scene to the last,” said Sharang L, with Dave B adding, “If Hostage were a diplomatic summit it would be the kind where everyone arrives late, forgets their notes, and ends up arguing over who brought the worst bottle of wine.”
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
