Hostage – Series Review | Netflix

HOSTAGE on Netflix is a new thriller mini-series with five episodes. Suranne Jones and Julie Delpy star in the intense plot. A political thriller where life and death are truly on the line. Read our Hostage series review here!

HOSTAGE is a new Netflix limited series starring Suranne Jones (Vigil) and Julie Delpy (The Lesson). This is a thriller with a political plot as its driving force, but a crime story to build intensity.

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The mini-series has just five episodes, so this isn’t one of those Netflix series that drags on for too long. Instead, it’s all very fast-paced and intense in a way that leaves both its characters and us, the audience, breathless.

Continue reading our 2025 Netflix series Hostage review below. Find all episodes on Netflix from August 21, 2025.

From bad to worse… much worse!

In Hostage, the well-known official approach of “we do not negotiate with terrorists” takes center stage. The British Prime Minister, Abigail Dalton (Suranne Jones), does not waver from this when her husband is kidnapped.

He is kidnapped during an official visit from the French President, Vivienne Toussaint (Julie Delpy), as the British need help from the French due to a shortage of medicine.

To make matters both better and worse, the Prime Minister’s husband, Dr. Alex Anderson (Ashley Thomas), is kidnapped while on a mission as a doctor in French Guyana. As in a country that is part of the French Republic.

He’s kidnapped alongside three other doctors, and all are working for Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). With the French president currently in the UK, the two heads of state work together.

But only briefly.

Do not engage or negotiate

Before the end of episode 1, the French president finds herself blackmailed into staying out of it. The French president is also up for re-election and has been leaning more to the right to try to secure re-election.

It’s not a good look, but in this world, it is all about winning.

And what do the kidnappers want? For the British Prime Minister to step down. She’s only been in the job for eight months (which almost seems long given the recent political climate in the UK), but is blamed for all current problems.

Who the terrorists are or work for will take longer to find out. Of course, it doesn’t matter all that much, as the rule is still: We do not negotiate with terrorists.

What is clear in Hostage is that the two political colleagues (and rivals) will likely have to work together if they are to uncover the plot threatening them both.

Watch Hostage on Netflix now

The new Netflix mini-series comes from creator Matt Charman (Bridge of Spies, Killer Heat). Hostage is very much a political thriller, but don’t think that this means it is in any way boring or “all talk”. There is plenty of intensity and action.

Not least thanks to Suranne Jones, who is as breathtaking and captivating as ever. Also, she seems so natural as the Prime Minister, I found myself almost wishing she’d go into politics. Then again, I’d rather have Vigil season 3.

Along with Suranne Jones and Julie Delpy in the cast, we get to enjoy a stellar cast of supporting actors. These include Corey Mylchreest (The Sandman), Lucian Msamati (Conclave), James Cosmo (Braveheart, The Beast Within), Martin McCann (Marcella, Calibre), and Jehnny Beth (Anatomy of a Fall).

Ultimately, this story is quite personal with Suranne Jones front and center as the British Prime Minister. Whether in politics or her private life, she is fierce and ruthless. You won’t want to take your eyes off of her until it’s all over.

Hostage is out on Netflix from August 21, 2025.

Details

Creator: Matt Charman
Directors: Isabelle Sieb, Amy Neil
Cast: Suranne Jones, Julie Delpy, Corey Mylchreest, Lucian Msamati, Ashley Thomas, James Cosmo, Martin McCann, Jehnny Beth