10 Best Abduction Movies That You Should Watching Update 04/2024

Best Abduction Movies

Netflix is buzzing about Ludovico Di Martino’s kidnapping drama The Beast. Here are a few more kidnapping thrillers to watch after this.

The Beast, Ludovico Di Martino’s Italian kidnapping thriller that premiered on Netflix on November 27, 2020, has been one of the streaming service’s most popular titles ever since. Leonida Riva (Fabrizio Gifuni) is a hardened Italian soldier whose violent lifestyle has shattered his relationship with his family members in this action-packed crime thriller. In the aftermath of Leonida’s daughter’s abduction, the trained fighter tries everything he can to find the one he loves and restore his family’s reputation.

The Beast is a Netflix hit, but viewers and critics have had mixed feelings about it. Another example of a kidnapping thriller film is this one.

1. Taken (2008)

Taken (2008)

As a kidnapping thriller that generated two sequels and cemented Liam Neeson as the go-to vengeful action star, Taken is a must-watch.

Neeson plays a former CIA agent who embarks on a European ballistic revenge mission to get retribution on his estranged adolescent daughter Kim (Maggie Grace). Throughout the course of the mission, he uses all of the talents he learned while working for the agency. Despite the lack of originality, the subgenre’s execution and Neeson’s performance make this film a contender.

2. All The Money In The World (2017)

When a kidnapped 16-year-old grandson was held for ransom in Rome in 1973, All the Money in the World chronicles the real-life story of billionaire oilman J. Paul Getty (Christopher Plummer).

A large part of the story revolves around the kidnapped boy’s mother, Gail (Michelle Williams), who does everything she can to get her father, Getty, to pay the ransom. Despite being the richest man in the world at the time, Getty is unwilling to part with his own money, but he gradually comes to appreciate the importance of saving his much-loved grandson.

3. Misery (1990)

Misery (1990)

In Rob Reiner’s brilliant adaptation of Stephen King’s iconic novel, Misery, Kathy Bates received an Oscar nomination for Best Actress in a Leading Role.

In the film, Bates portrays Annie Wilkes, a dedicated Paul Sheldon admirer (James Caan). A snowy car-crash rescue leads to Annie taking Paul home, where she heals him back to health, and urges him to start writing his new novel. Annie, on the other hand, becomes utterly insane as she begins torturing Paul for her own twisted pleasure.

4. You Were Never Really Here (2017)

It’s a kidnapping subgenre that Lynne Ramsay tosses on its head in You Were Never Really Here. PTSD-stricken Gulf War veteran Joe (Joaquin Phoenix), who returns home and takes on the role of a ruthless bounty hunter, stars in the film.

Nina, the 13-year-old daughter of a well-known senator, is the first target of Joe’s new mission. Joe has few leads to go on, so he scours the city’s sleaziest neighborhoods and confronts his own issues by slaying mature men who kidnap female teenagers.

5. Don’t Breathe (2016)

Don't Breathe (2016)

In order to keep the audience guessing during the first half of Don’t Breathe, director Fede Alvarez chooses not to reveal any spoilers. In the beginning, it appears to be a home invasion robbery film that degenerates into a kidnapping story.

In Detroit, a trio of youthful crooks try to steal money from a blind war veteran, but they have no idea how well-versed the man is in his own booby-trapped home. To make matters worse, a young woman has been held captive in the man’s basement as part of an evil plan to avenge the death of his own daughter, which he blames on the abducted woman.

6. Prisoners (2013)

IMDB’s Top 250 lists Denis Villeneuve’s excellent 2013 kidnap thriller Prisoners, which earned Roger Deakins an Oscar nomination for Best Cinematography.

He stars as Dover Keller, a Pennsylvania factory worker who loses his daughter and a close friend to abduction on Thanksgiving Day in broad daylight. The case is assigned to Loki (Jake Gyllenhaal), but Dover takes over the investigation when no answers are given.

7. Fargo (1996)

Fargo (1996)

At the 1997 Academy Awards, Joel and Ethan Coen’s inept kidnapping plot in Fargo was awarded the Best Actress and Original Screenplay honors.

Bumbling car salesman Jerry Lundergaard tries to extort money from the affluent father of his wife’s boyfriend by having her abducted, but his scheme goes horribly wrong. Pregnant police chief Marge Gunderson is also on the trail of Jerry’s kidnappers, who are more incompetent than he is (McDormand).

8. High And Low (1963)

An important milestone in the history of kidnapping thrillers was reached by Akira Kurosawa’s High and Low, released in 1963. Additionally, the picture presently ranks #82 on IMDB’s list of the best 250 movies of all time.

This is the story of a CEO of a shoe-making company whose chauffeur’s son is kidnapped while entertaining guests at his opulent home in Japan. Ransom money is being sought from the businessman, and he must decide whether to help his employee’s son like his own or let him be hurt.

9. Oldboy (2003)

Oldboy (2003)

Oldboy, directed by Chan-wook Park and currently ranked #67 on IMDB’s Top 250 Movies list, is one of the best films of the previous two decades, regardless of genre. The gruesome vengeance story centres around a kidnapped man who is liberated 15 years later and given five days to track down his abductor.

Oh Dae-su (Choi Min-sik) was kidnapped in 1988 and spent the next 15 years in a prison-like environment. Daesu Oh goes on a ferocious rampage after being freed and given only a few days to avenge his captor.

10. The Silence Of The Lambs (1991)

The Silence of the Lambs, directed by Jonathan Demme and starring Christian Bale, Robert De Niro, and Meryl Streep, is one of the best kidnapping thrillers ever made.

However, Clarice Starling’s interrogation of Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) is solely to aid locate and identify Buffalo Bill (Jodie Foster) (Ted Levine). Catherine Martin, the daughter of a senator, is being held hostage by a brutal kidnapper and serial killer named Bill. In Hollywood history, this is only the third time a picture has won all five major Oscar categories.