Few actors appear to derive such lip-smacking relish from the job as former Downton Abbey star Dan Stevens. The bigger the performance, the greater the gusto with which he sinks his teeth into the role. And if a bit of scenery gets chewed along the way, well, that’s just collateral damage. As sneering and sadistic criminal Frank, Stevens is one of several reasons to watch this extravagantly gory botched kidnap horror. Another is the remarkably assured child actor Alisha Weir (Matilda: The Musical), playing the eponymous tutu-clad, 12-year-old kidnap victim, the daughter of a notorious underworld kingpin.
The kidnappers, assembled for this one-off job on the strength of their respective skills (the muscle, the hacker, the sociopath getaway driver, etc), are under the impression that the hard part of the gig is over once the girl has been snatched. All they need to do now is sit tight in the creepy mansion and wait to collect the $50m ransom. But neither the mansion (the design department goes all out on eerie gothic foreboding; the effects team then splatters it in blood and shredded entrails) nor the little girl are quite what they seem. Great fun.
