7 Great Movies That Revolve Around A Kidnapping

The Kingdom (2007)

Using kidnap as part of a political narrative can be an effective way of demonstrating the nuances of motivation for all parties involved, and The Kingdom is a good example of that strategy. Directed by Peter Berg and written by Matthew Michael Carnahan, the action thriller is loosely based upon two bombing incidents in Saudi Arabia – the Khobar Housing Complex in 1996, and the Riyadh Compound bombing in 2003.

In The Kingdom, an American oil company housing compound in Riyadh is attacked by al-Qaeda operatives, by way of bomb detonation, car hijacking,and mass shooting of US and Saudi citizens. A second attack, using an ambulance filled with explosives, also kills FBI Special Agent Fran Manner (Kyle Chandler), who is on-site dealing with the first attack.

The FBI, back in Washington, tasks Special Agent Ronald Fleury (Jamie Foxx) with assembling a rapid deployment team to investigate the attacks in Saudi Arabia, and he gathers Special Agents Janet Mayes (Jennifer Garner), Adam Leavitt (Jason Bateman) and Grant Sykes (Chris Cooper) to work with Colonel Faris al-Ghazi (Ashraf Barhom) on the ground.

The team face much resistance as they try to examine evidence and identify the perpetrators of the attacks, and as tension mounts, their convoy is attacked and Agent Leavitt is abducted. As his colleagues give chase, they are drawn into a dangerous residential area and come under heavy fire.

In the custody of al-Qaeda operatives, Leavitt is beaten, restrained and prepared for execution on video, while his FBI colleagues desperately try to locate him, following a trail of blood through an apartment complex. What follows is a daring and extremely violent rescue and extraction, mounted by Special Agent Janet Mayes, and the ramifications of the incident resonate throughout the remainder of the movie.