Marketic It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

Catangro After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

Donald Seymour This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Billy Ollie Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

The Movie Diorama A taut tight British thriller is always a good watch, and this flick is no different. I will constantly appreciate an actor taking on a role that differs from their previous credits. Arterton did just that as a kidnapped individual who is sealed in a claustrophobic room by two masked men who utilise her as ransom for two million pounds. Hostage, kidnap, ransom, all saturated elements to similar thrillers that rely on unpredictable intense twists to spice up the narrative. Alice Creed is no different, in fact it is so unpredictable that it in itself becomes predictable. Sounds odd right? Let me clarify. Every fifteen minutes there is a twist, could range from a small detail to a large plot device, that attempts to convolute the plot even further. With only three characters on screen, the bonds and relationships between them start to become distorted as the narrative progresses. This is due to the twists. Problem is, when the first few are unpredictable you start to predict what happens next by automatically imagining the most illogical turn within the plot. Thus, the unpredictable becomes predictable. Double crossing, relationship reveals and greed all play a fundamental part to these twisty turns. I admire the ambition and the Hitchcockian style, and for the most part it's a successful low budget thriller. Arterton was excellent, Marsan was electrifying and Compston was well controlled. Blakeson's directing technique, particularly the opening sequence, was substantially gritty and held an evocative sense of realism to the scenario. The characters themselves were functional, however weren't truly worth investing in. They play integral parts, but due to the lack of supporting characters and the short runtime they are only a means to further the plot. Nothing more, which is a shame. The third act does also lose the carefully constructed momentum. It's certainly a watchable thriller with many good aspects, particularly Arterton, but it bites off more than it can chew.

SnoopyStyle Former prison cell mates Danny (Martin Compston) and Vic (Eddie Marsan) kidnap Alice Creed (Gemma Arterton) for £2 million ransom. Vic is the controlling lead who has a detailed plan. Alice is carefully restrained by the pair. Alice catches Danny by surprise and he reveals a shocking secret.This movie has a couple of big twisty reveals. They are big, twisty, and unforeseen. There is a problematic aspect with the first reveal that I don't buy. Alice shouldn't react that way although it could be that she's flustered into making a mistake. The ending also has some more twists and turns. I may prefer a more straight up action sequence. This is overall a good tiny confined thriller.

Robert J. Maxwell It's a kind of tour de force for a crime thriller. Two men who are lovers, the young Martin Compston and the dominant older Eddie Marsan, kidnap the young woman who is the daughter of some filthy rich magnate and demand a quick ransom while they hold her captive -- shackled, hooded, and gagged with one of those BSM red balls -- in a shabby room.Those are the only three characters, and there are only two sets.It doesn't sound promising, does it? The girl, probably a virgin, screaming for help as the two brutes ravage her; the torment of the parents; the determination of the police; the recorded phone calls about the ransom; the argument about whether she should be left behind as a witness; bath tubs of gore.But no. The writers have squeezed every ounce of tension out of the story without abandoning those sparse assets. It answers interesting questions too. Suppose the bound, gagged, and hooded victim needs to use the toilet. One of the men brings her a bucket, but she signals frantically with her fingers -- number two. Can she "go" with some stranger watching her? Can't the stranger at least turn around? And when he does so, can't she whack him over the head with the empty bucket and grab his pistol? The answer is yes.Now the victim, Gemma Arterton, has the upper hand, but the second kidnapper may show up at any moment and -- well, what's a girl to do? Then, on top of that, the narrative gets more complicated, too complicated to explain. There are double crosses upon double crosses, so many that I forgot who was aligned with whom in the later intrigues.The script is fine for its genre, not poetic but effective. And the performances are of professional caliber. Gemma Arterton is attractive without being stunningly beautiful or so young as to invite the cheap sympathy we feel when a child is endangered. And she's no virgin either. She's wily as hell.In some ways the most sympathetic character is boyish Compston because he's the most naive. Everyone takes advantage of him despite (or because of) the fact that he's the only character who seems truly capable of love, even with reservations.The most impressive actor is Marsan. He's the authoritarian Loeb who orders Compston's Leopold around. And Marsan's appearance is striking. His forehead is slanted back and his features protrude at odd angles from his skull. He looks like he's wearing a fire plug on his shoulders.All of them prove themselves capable murder and, in the end, they've all demonstrated their capacity for taking the money and running away with it.It's a little like "Dial M For Murder," but more violent and less witty. None of the villains are nearly as suave and good-natured as Ray Milland. And the music here practically spells out "gravitas." There's not a smile in a cartload but it's precisely done.

Adam Peters (67%) A largely watertight, stripped-down kidnap based crime thriller that marks a reasonably high point in lower budgeted British cinema. I've seen multi- million dollar movies that aren't as engrossing or even as well made as this, and while many movies of this type run out of steam after about thirty or so minutes this on the other hand has more than a few twists lined up along the way meaning there's plenty to get your teeth into. And with only three characters featuring in the entire picture this does a fine job of keeping things fresh, with the always good Eddie Marsan lifting the film even higher. It may be a touch underwritten in parts, but this is overall well worth tracking down.