At a beach resort in the Philippines, 20 guests are kidnapped by an Islamic separatist group fighting for the independence of Mindanao, with French social worker Therese Bourgoine among those taken to a jungle island. Over weeks and months, a strange bond grows between the kidnappers and hostages.

Based on real hostage crisis, Brillante Mendoza’s gripping thriller eschews political sides, focusing instead on human behaviors amid extreme conditions. Echoing these blurred psychological lines, Isabelle Huppert gives an astonishingly nuanced performance, straddling realism and heightened drama.