Piégé

Totally boring, implausible and pointless. Another disappointing flop featuring Skarsgård. It's not tense so much as just tedious. The back and forth moralizing of the protagonist and his captor seems like a stale attempt at courting the public discontent. The protagonist's complaint that laws serve to only protect the rich elicited a real groan from me. Fortunately this evaporates quickly, and never returns. However there's else here to captivate. All of the characters are ugly, and unlikeable. Save yourself the time and watch the 2000s classic 'Phone Booth' instead, which is much more thrilling.

Locked (2025), the English-language remake of Argentina's 4x4, sets out with a chilling premise-a carjacker trapped inside a high-tech SUV turned psychological prison. Directed by David Yarovesky and starring Bill Skarsgård and Anthony Hopkins, the film delivers on claustrophobia and unease but falls short of leaving a lasting mark.

The plot unfolds as Eddie, a reckless thief, breaks into what he believes is just another luxury car-only to find himself ensnared in a twisted game of justice by a vigilante played briefly, but brilliantly, by Hopkins. While Skarsgård carries the majority of the film, shifting between fear and frustration, it's Hopkins' minimal screen time that lingers most-his voice alone lends gravitas the film sorely needs.

Technically, the film scores well-direction, editing, background score, and cinematography all pull their weight. But narratively, it's a slow-burner that doesn't quite ignite. The tension builds steadily, yet the climax arrives too suddenly and is followed by a rather muted epilogue, dulling the impact of the confrontation and its moral undertone.

In the end, Locked feels like a high-concept thriller that loses steam halfway. It grips, but doesn't quite throttle. A one-time watch, especially for fans of psychological tension, but not one that demands a revisit.

Rating: 3/5 A tense setup with strong performances, but the payoff doesn't quite justify the ride.

Anthony Hopkins must be in financial trouble to have taken on this major disappointment and waste of time. Even the free version of Copilot in Bing could've come up with a better plot and far better dialog.

The characters were so under developed they'd be blank if they had been traditional camera film in a photo lab. The dialog was so undercooked it should've come with a salmonella risk warning.

The movie attempted to be twisted but was annoying. It tried to be twisty but was predictable. It wanted to be suspenseful but was boring.

The audience is the victim locked in the theater suffering through a script that should've been locked away in the depths of a paper shredder.

A man, sick and tired of people breaking into his car, traps the next thief and extend his torture for longer than necessary by making his own justice. A man willing and capable to do anything, and a youngster at the wrong place.

I wasn't expecting the sound design to be so crunchy, or for it to be as gore-y as it was. The setup isn't particularly memorable, and most of the dialogue isn't that good. I enjoyed Collateral (2004) much more than this for that simple reason. But it takes its premise and goes places with it.. but not enough to fill in 90 minutes. Sadly, there's a LOT of "empty space" and the pacing suffers a lot because of its content. The acting is good, but not great.

Overall, it's okay.

You understand what it is doing/saying, and you know where it is going to go (more or less). The sad part is that there is no particular reason to watch this.

Locked tries to be an intense, claustrophobic survival thriller, but it never quite stands out in the genre. As a fan of these types of films, I appreciate when a simple, single-location premise can be turned into something tense and immersive. But Locked spends way too much time leaning on clichés without bringing anything new or truly engaging in the first half. The pacing drags, the narrative barely moves forward, and the attempts at suspense just don't land.

The second half is definitely an improvement-it picks up the intensity and has moments that actually manage to grab your attention. But even then, it never reaches a level where it feels memorable. The concept has potential, but the execution falls short, failing to dive deep into the psychological dynamics of the main character or create a truly suffocating atmosphere.

Bill Skarsgård, as always, delivers a solid performance, though this is far from his best work. He has the screen presence and charisma to carry a film almost entirely on his own, and he does a good job of selling the frustration and desperation of the situation. But the script doesn't give him much to work with, leaving his character too one-dimensional for his performance to truly shine.

One of the film's most interesting aspects is the car's design, which was adapted to function as the main setting. The way the space is utilized adds to the sense of confinement and gives the experience a layer of realism. That said, Locked could have tapped into something deeper-whether about the economy, modern society, or even humanity's relationship with technology. Instead, it settles for being a middle-of-the-road thriller, entertaining enough but lacking any real impact.

In the end, Locked is fine for a 90-minute distraction, but it's the kind of movie you'll probably forget as soon as the credits roll. It does the job, but it never pushes itself beyond just being "good enough."