Leia (Saoirse Ronan) was abducted by stranger Benjamin McKay (Jason Isaacs) at the age of four. She lived in the basement believing the world had ended. After 17 years of isolation, she is reunited with her birth parents (Cynthia Nixon, David Warshofsky). She struggles to acclimate to them who are essentially strangers and even her real name Leanne. Her mother can't leave her by herself and is desperate to connect to her. The marriage is falling apart. Dr. Andrews (Rosalind Chao) is Leia's therapist.Director Nikole Beckwith strips away any flash or music. The colors are washed out. It is deliberately quiet at times. It leaves the movie feeling dead for the first half. Saoirse is able to maintain interest by her sheer presence. Leia takes a turn around the midpoint. It's a big risk and it becomes bursts of overwrought awkwardness. She needs a connection outside of the situation. The obvious comparison is Room which is more cinematic and has more "life". This is trying to walk down the same path but not as scenic. The two women produce a compelling battle but I'm not sure if it's worthwhile.

I just watched this. I thought Cynthia Nixon was sublime. Her acting was truly captivating and engaging, so talented, I would love to see her in more roles so if anyone can suggest I would be grateful. I feel, dare I say (controversially) Sex & the City was beneath her really after watching this and if that is what she is mostly associated with.It would've been nice if more detail was given behind the kidnapping. I appreciate the subtlety in a way however. It seems audiences were lost. It would've been nice if there was more insight into Leah's ordeal/experience.Good film, enjoyed.

This was pretty good. Cynthia Nixon and Saoirse Ronan give strong, really raw performances here which is in part what keeps it so watchable. They play mother and daughter who have been separated for 18 years after 'Leanne' was kidnapped as a 4 year old and kept locked in a windowless basement. She is eventually reunited with her parents but of course doesn't remember them as well as having been psychologically damaged by her captor (the awesome Jason Isaacs).I found the movie intense and absorbing as well as sad, uncomfortable and even creepy -especially the ending. It's a bit slow at times as character studies tend to be and I guess along the lines of 'Room' which has a similar scenario and plot of readjusting to an unknown world.Leanne's story (or time with Ben her kidnapper) is brought to light slowly in ongoing flashbacks showing her at different ages in her room. Ben has of course been her world, her entire life for all of her formative years and she is not really capable of functioning without him, she is damaged. The story takes an interesting turn when her mother Cynthia locks her back in her childhood room and essentially trues to reprogram her. A true tragedy 11/22/15

There are some interesting ideas in this movie sadly they were not implemented..."Stockholm, Pennsylvania" a young woman kidnapped at 4 and kept in a basement for 18 years is reunited with the parents she doesn't remember,the child-kidnapping genre usually it focuses on the victim and the abductor and ends when the subject is found.This film had a more original spin and focused on the after math.I give the film points for originality, one usually does not see this part we only see the victim's arms wrapped around their parents and the credits start to roll. Leia is deeply attached to the mild-mannered end-of-days cultist (Jason Isaacs, in a very small role) who kidnapped her and cut her off from the outside world. But that enforced seclusion also means that at 22 she's facing the childhood challenges and embarrassments of learning how to operate in the adult world.all this sounds like a filmmaker's dream protect.Sadly it takes a turn we put ourselves in the shoes of the mother although her intentions are good, she becomes extremely obsessive to get her daughter back to the point that her actions are not so different from the kidnapper,that's when the film loses me,it becomes unrealistic, it is an obsession to achieve her daughters love at all costs.Strong performances from Saoirse Ronan and Cynthia Nixon, they manage to get the high points of the movie,I leaned more to Emma Donaghue's compelling 2010 novel Room, which developed far more bracing and psychologically nuanced drama out of a similar scenario of shut-ins readjusting to an unknown world.