Towards Darkness

Colombian-born writer-director Antonio Negret’s arty thriller, inspired by his own family’s kidnapping ordeals, hopscotches between past and present as hostage José (Urbina), in his third week of captivity, waits to learn whether his middle-class family has come up with $500,000. If they haven’t, he’ll be dead in 90 minutes. Flashbacks fill in the stories of the father-son kidnappers, José’s conflicted parents, the negotiators managing the situation and the victim himself, visiting from the U.S. and reassessing his relationship with both Colombia and his troubled ex-girlfriend (Ferrera, who also executive-produced). Negret includes a few twists too many, but nails his characters’ sweaty desperation.