Author's judgement: 
A near future where aliens rule the earth and the inhabitants are divided into those who accept and those who rebel. This is the theme of captive state, written and directed by Rupert Wyatt. It is a classic in the political fiction genre, where science fiction enters only as regards the part referring to aliens in the usual monstrous forms and landed from improbable spaceships in the form of asteroids. For everything else there is a lot of politics and a lot of that technology which is already largely widespread among us.
The story tells of the landing on earth and the subsequent domination of an alien species that does not destroy the planet, there was no apocalypse, but only intends to dominate and exploit it and the populations, for the most part, seem to accept this species again world order in order not to suffer annihilation. Except for some who instead organize resistance and fight against the invaders-usurpers defined as "legislators" who have chosen the underground as the place to exercise their power. All this in an environment where technological tools that we already know are seen in action: drones capable of controlling and following in detail every movement or subject framed by omnipresent cameras, also thanks to facial recognition software. After all, the chips installed under the skin are already being studied and tested in some countries where, in exchange for a free transport pass, they ask to be able to install a microprocessor close to their wrist capable of communicating with the central servers and so Street. In many respects this film brings to mind an absolute masterpiece where many technologies of the future were widely anticipated: Blade Runner by Ridley Scott from 1982.
The film, from this point of view, offers us a much closer future than the science fiction genre usually tells and the narrative strand itself - the rebellion against tyrants, albeit from another world - appears as contemporary as it is convincing and suggestive. We are in Chicago where a group of resisters tries to organize an attack against some collaborators: the plot takes place entirely on actions, few dialogues, where the actors are asked for the minimum wage (a excellent John Goodman) although the story unfolds entirely around the rhythms and times imposed by the objective to be grasped. From this point of view, the film holds up very well and it is immediately understood that this is an anomalous cinematic work in this category. Little space for special effects, aliens appear little and badly, a lot of tension on the general sense, on the "political" reading of how right and necessary it is to rebel against the Martian legislators. The ending is a surprise.
Captive State is a good film that lets itself be viewed carefully and deserves a dignified place in the panorama of this genre. Science fiction has always proved to be very attractive among spectators and fans of the big screen and this film does not disappoint. Who knows why Italians try so little in this vein? Only Nirvana, by Gabriele Salvatores from 1997 comes to mind. After all, despite the fact that we are still in the middle of the film season and despite the calls to go to the cinema all year round (as we recently wrote in an article on FirstOnline) at this moment the market doesn't offer much better. Might as well appreciate what the convent goes through.
