Netflix's new political thriller Hostage has been dismissed as 'nuclear grade hokum' by critics, despite a star turn from Suranne Jones. The five-part series, which debuted on Thursday, sees Jones play a Labour prime minister forced to resign after her husband is kidnapped by terrorists in South America.
The plot also involves a neo-Fascist French president, a boatload of asylum seekers with ebola, and a single British special forces soldier armed with a pistol and a telescopic camera. Critics have lambasted the show for its implausible storyline, with one describing it as 'over-egged nonsense'.
Jones, known for her roles in Doctor Foster and Vigil, does her best to lend credibility to the melodrama, but the script's excesses prove too much. The French president, played by Julie Delpy, is embroiled in a blackmail plot involving a sex tape, while the couple speak English with exaggerated French accents in private.
The series was written by Matt Charman and features a cast including Ashley Thomas, Corey Mylchreest, and Lucian Msamati. Despite the star power, Hostage has been criticised for its lack of realism, with one reviewer noting that it's 'only in a fictional drama as bonkers as this that Labour can manage to elect a female leader'.
