Quartile rating: 6/10 · 1 rating
Based on the extraordinary true story of the European city’s 1973 bank heist and hostage crisis that was documented in the 1974 New Yorker article “The Bank Drama” by Daniel Lang. The events grasped the world’s attention when the hostages bonded with their captors and turned against the authorities, giving rise to the psychological phenomenon known as “Stockholm Syndrome.”
Stockholm (2019) tackles a genuinely fascinating true story — the 1973 bank heist that coined 'Stockholm Syndrome' — with moderate success. The plot is inherently compelling given its real-world basis, but the screenplay struggles to fully capitalize on the psychological complexity of the hostage-captor dynamic, leaning more toward quirky comedy than genuine tension. Ethan Hawke brings charisma to his role as the oddball robber and Noomi Rapace is solid, though neither performance reaches exceptional heights. The cinematography is workmanlike and period-appropriate but not particularly distinctive or inventive. Novelty is moderate — the subject matter and its psychological hook are genuinely interesting, and the film takes a slightly off-kilter comedic tone that separates it from a straight crime drama, though it doesn't fully commit to its own singular vision. The ending feels anticlimactic, failing to land the emotional or thematic resonance the story deserves, leaving audiences with a somewhat flat conclusion to an otherwise intriguing premise.