Review | Stockholm film review: Ethan Hawke, Noomi Rapace in quirky caper exploring hostages’ sympathy for captors
- Stockholm syndrome is a psychological condition that took its name from an attempted bank robbery in the Swedish capital in 1973; this film re-enacts it
- Ethan Hawke plays the robber, Mark Strong a fellow criminal, and Noomi Rapace a submissive bank teller in retelling that’s persuasive enough to hold your gaze
3/5 stars
In certain instances of kidnapping, robbery or terrorism, hostages have been known to develop compassionate, cooperative relationships with their captors. Known as Stockholm syndrome, this psychological phenomenon of irrational alliance was first identified during an attempted bank robbery in the Swedish capital in 1973.
Writer-director Robert Budreau’s fictionalised film retelling the incident stars Ethan Hawke as Lars Nystrom, an escaped convict who holds up the city’s central Kreditbanken. During the ensuing three-day stand-off, Nystrom negotiates the release of his incarcerated friend Gunnar (Mark Strong), and together they win the support of their four hostages, most notably bank teller and mother-of-two Bianca Lind (Noomi Rapace).
Budreau has his work cut out to ensure Stockholm, depicting as it does a stranger-than-fiction event that persistently tugs at the thread of plausibility, doesn’t derail into preposterous farce. Using information and testimony culled from a 1974 article in The New Yorker, the film unfolds as a baffling screwball comedy, and recalls classic heist films such as Dog Day Afternoon, even as it persistently subverts our expectations.
Hawke, sporting a cowboy hat, is for once encouraged to indulge his rarely seen comedic side. Nystrom is infatuated by Americana, and struts around the bank to classic rock songs dressed like an extra from Easy Rider. His actions appear just threatening enough to warrant a swift response from the Stockholm police, yet his prisoners quickly warm to his charm and mellow sensibility.