There’s a special type of frustration that comes with watching a film like Bruno Mourral’s “Kidnapping Inc.” It’s a frustration borne from a good place—you want the film to succeed—but around every corner, “Kidnapping Inc.” just can’t help but trip over itself. This is a film that showcases two really solid lead performances, highlights horrific injustice found in a country many people aren’t familiar with, and is shot in a way that makes its modest budget feel much bigger. However, all of those positives come crashing down thanks to a story that can’t decide whether it’s a slapstick comedy, a kidnapping thriller, or a political drama. And sure, some films can contain multitudes, but this overstuffedness does not work here.
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Doc (Jasmuel Andri) and Zoe (Rolaphton Mercure) are two men trying to get by in Haiti. It is told through a title card at the film’s beginning that Haiti is a country in crisis in multiple ways. Sadly, one of the most common ways people make money is through kidnapping. That’s where we find Doc and Zoe. These two men have kidnapped the adult son of a Senator (who is also running for President in a hotly contested election, but more on that later) and are on their way back to their boss to collect their fee. However, before they can make it back, they accidentally kill the kidnapped man, and the rest of the plot finds them trying to cover their tracks so they don’t have to come clean about the accidental death. Sounds like a fun little film about the hijinks facing hapless criminals just trying to get by, right? Well, that’s just one of the plots.
There is also a subplot about the worried wife of the man who was kidnapped. She is having an affair with another man, but she’s also really distraught about the situation involving her husband. So, she pulls together all the cash she can to pay the ransom while also discussing things with her father-in-law (the Senator running for President—don’t worry, we’ll get to him next, I promise) and frantically trying to do everything necessary to make sure her husband returns home safely. This would make for a really interesting thriller about the current situation in Haiti, where kidnapping runs rampant. But wait, there’s more.
Remember the Senator guy? Well, while his son has been kidnapped, he is also involved in a huge election where he is attempting to become President of Haiti. However, he’s trying to woo the votes of the Black Haitians, which means he has to be strong against the kidnappers and play the role of tough, down-to-earth father in the face of a very real, potentially tragic situation. So, we learn about the politics involved with Haitians having to decide to vote for a wealthy “mulatto” versus a Black man who speaks for the people. This is where we get scenes that would fit in with any political drama.
Hopefully, this illustrates the point made at the beginning about “Kidnapping Inc.” It’s actually three separate films in one, with three very distinct tones. And throughout the runtime, Bruno Mourral, making his feature directorial debut, does his best to balance it all with grace. However, nothing about this movie is all that graceful, and the quick transitions between tones will give you whiplash. You find yourself so happily engrossed in the world of Doc and Zoe and their attempts to navigate the busy city with a dead body in the trunk, making terrible decision after terrible decision to then a scene of a panicked wife breaking down emotionally with a transition to another scene of scheming politics and backroom deals.
That isn’t at all mentioning the scenes involving the man negotiating the ransom and the corrupt police officer trying to cement his power before the political situation goes completely off the rails. Oh, and let’s not forget the fact that the wife of the kidnapped son of a Senator is actually the daughter of the Senator’s new wife (and thus the Senator’s daughter-in-law and stepdaughter at once). It’s just too much.
But it must be said—if Mourral focused on any of those three main plot lines, “Kidnapping Inc.” would have been an eye-opening portrait of a vibrant but struggling country. The performances from Andri and Mercure are wonderful. They’re funny, charismatic, and surprisingly emotional. When the film focuses on Doc and Zoe, it just works. But it’s when all of them mix that things fall apart. You can’t ask an audience to laugh at the slapstick violence involved with the unintentional death of the kidnapped man to then transition to the grieving wife and scheming father. It makes the audience feel bad about feeling any sort of joy during those previous scenes.
When the film comes to an end and the credits roll, you can’t help but feel confused with what “Kidnapping Inc.” has presented. And after the confusion subsides, there’s that frustration, knowing there was a better, tighter film just under the surface. But you can’t judge a movie based on what it could have been, and as it stands now, “Kidnapping Inc.” is a movie that wears far too many hats, trying to spotlight the vast issues in Haiti and ultimately muddies a story that could have been very powerful. [C-]
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