Hostage Review: Netflix Takes On a BBC-Style Political Thriller

The research process for Netflix's Hostage involved in-person visits to the U.K. parliament, where the cast watched Prime Minister Keir Starmer duke it out against his predecessor, Rishi Sunak. Judging by how the show actually turned out, this research was more about vibes than ripped-from-the-headlines accuracy. Instead of replicating the charmless nature of Britain's recent leadership, Hostage introduces a sympathetic and morally upstanding fictional PM, echoing the wish-fulfillment fantasy of The West Wing's President Bartlet.

During the opening scenes, we learn that Prime Minister Abigail Dalton (Suranne Jones) has staked her career on cutting the U.K.'s military budget, redirecting the funds toward healthcare services. It's an enviably utopian policy, but thanks to an unexpected shortage of cancer drugs, Dalton's reputation is already foundering. Accused of breaking her campaign promises, she has one last chance to solve the drug crisis: make a deal with the French president, Vivienne Toussaint (Julie Delpy), a smirking enigma with ties to France's far-right movement.

Reflecting real debates over the border between Britain and France, Toussaint wants to tighten security around the English Channel, where asylum seekers risk their lives to get from mainland Europe to the U.K. However, these nods to hot-button issues are really just window dressing for the show's titular hostage crisis, putting a veneer of authenticity over an escapist thriller. 

In the midst of this fractious diplomatic summit with France, Dalton's husband, Alex (Ashley Thomas), gets kidnapped. Working as a doctor in French Guiana, he's taken at gunpoint by a squad of masked goons — and they're not just looking for a payout. This is an orchestrated blackmail plot against the prime minister, timed to create as much chaos as possible.

6.5

Hostage

at Netflix

Like

• The fast-paced thriller plot
• Julie Delpy as one of the main antagonists
• The interplay between French and British leaders

Dislike

• The depiction of British politics feels detached from reality
• Some of the mysteries are wrapped up too neatly

Penned by Bridge of Spies screenwriter Matt Charman, Hostage ramps up the tension with a constant barrage of threats, from physical violence to subplots about parliamentary infighting. When the kidnappers share their demands, Dalton faces a choice between saving her husband and abandoning her life's work as a politician. To her teenage daughter, Sylvie (Isobel Akuwudike), the answer is obvious: Family comes first. But Dalton feels a deep sense of duty to her country, and knows that if she surrenders to a terrorist threat, she'll set a dangerous precedent. President Toussaint's presence adds another variable to the mix, because the kidnapping technically took place on French territory, where Toussaint has more power to step in. That is, if Dalton can trust her to make the right decisions.

In five fast-paced episodes, Hostage introduces more than enough twists and red herrings to keep us coming back for more. Like many contemporary political dramas, however, you may find it more enjoyable if you politely hand-wave its relationship to real-world politics.

We have to assume that Dalton was elected on a socialist platform, significantly to the left of her real-life counterpart, Keir Starmer. Yet the underlying themes here are still pretty conservative, reworking a classic conspiracy thriller formula (e.g. a high-stakes conflict between shadowy forces and an underdog hero) to side with the ultimate embodiment of official authority. Hostage may be more elegantly executed than Netflix's infuriating presidential thriller Zero Day, but it shares a similar philosophy, right down to the background scenes where civilian protesters are condescendingly portrayed as an inconvenience to our powerful protagonist.

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Instead of engaging with the real conspiratorial influences that shape our world today (for instance, online misinformation campaigns, or the impact of figures like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos), Hostage fabricates an outlandish problem with an absurdly tidy solution. In doing so, it casts the prime minister as a hero who battles malevolent forces to protect the British people — an idea that feels like copaganda writ large.

Abigail Dalton represents an idealized fantasy of positive leadership, similar to the implausibly competent cops we see in procedural crime TV. And in the same way that we enjoy cop shows as a comforting alternative to reality, Hostage has plenty to offer as a character-based thriller. Following a successful format for British primetime dramas, it smoothly switches gears between relatable family strife and life-or-death conflicts, uncovering a mystery where everyone seems to be hiding a dark secret. It's the kind of material that made Suranne Jones into British TV royalty, melding paranoid psychodrama with the satisfaction of a whodunit. Just don't expect any thought-provoking insight into U.K. politics.

Premieres: Thursday, Aug. 21 on Netflix
Who's in it: Suranne Jones, Julie Delpy, Corey Mylchreest, Lucian Msamati, Ashley Thomas, Isobel Akuwudike
Who's behind it: Matt Charman (writer/creator), Isabelle Sieb and Amy Neil (directors)
For fans of: Bodyguard, The Diplomat, The Madness
Episodes watched: 5 of 5