Karla Dyson (Halle Berry, Frankie & Alice) is a waitress in New Orleans who is going through a divorce, but her world revolves around her young son, Frankie (Sage Correa). They go to the park for an afternoon concert, but a call comes in from her lawyer about custody matters and she turns away for a few moments, but that's all it takes. When she turns back around, Frankie is gone and she goes from playing Marco Polo in order to find him, to frantically calling his name, only to see some woman forcing him into an old teal Mustang. She gives chase on foot, dropping her cell phone in the process, but as she loses her grip on the car and it speeds away, she jumps into her minivan to pursue, realizing then that she has no phone. The kidnappers clearly don't care about the havoc that they cause as they dangerously speed down the highway, causing wrecks in their wake, and sadly, although she doesn't mean to, Karla is doing the same to keep up with them.
Before long, her erratic driving is reported and the police are looking for her van, but sadly no one is looking for the Mustang. The kidnappers take her all over in an attempt to lose her, but this mother is relentless about not losing her child. Finally, they threaten poor Frankie with a knife and she is forced to exit the interstate, only to dangerously double back to pursue them once again. She eventually corners them in a field, only to realize that they intend to shake her down for a large sum of money and her only choice is to comply with the female kidnapper, Margo (Chris McGinn), while leaving Frankie in the car with the seemingly more unstable Terry (Lew Temple, The Walking Dead). Before she knows it, she's in a fight for her own life, as well as that of her child, but giving up is not an option for Karla, and if she has to take them on by herself, then she'll do it.
Kidnap is a rather action-packed movie as the high speed car chases are pretty intense. Combine that with the fact that her child is in the backseat of the other vehicle, so ramming it isn't really an option, and you've got a nail-biter of a thriller on your hands. Halle Berry is fantastic and completely believable as a mother desperate to get her child back. Sure, she undergoes some horrible physical damage along the way, but I can totally believe that a mother who is physically able would stop at nothing to get their child back and Berry sells it 100%. Chris McGinn and Lew Temple as the kidnappers also do a fairly good job at being pretty reprehensible and you'll find yourself rooting for Karla all the way. I really enjoyed Kidnap and if you are looking for a well-acted and intense thriller, you should check it out. There's only a short behind-the-scenes featurette as far as special features go, but the film stands on its own.
