Charlize Theron’s 2002 critically panned thriller, Trapped, finds new popularity on Netflix’s Top 10

Last Updated on January 24, 2024

Sometimes, movies that fail to make a splash when they’re initially released find a new audience later in life. It isn’t unheard of that a movie that flopped and exhibited a low critical response can gain a cult following or even newfound popularity. John Carpenter’s career is kind of filled with movies like this. The early 2000s had seen a slew of mid-budget thrillers in an era before mega-budget franchises took over cinemas. One of those films is a 2002 psychological thriller titled Trapped. Trapped would seemingly get lost in a sea of movies like Along Came a Spider or Enough, as well as similar crime-thriller genre movies made popular by Ashley Judd with films like Double Jeopardy, High Crimes and Twisted. According to ScreenRant, the Charlize Theron and Kevin Bacon film has found new popularity when it cracked Netflix’s Top 10 Movies along with new movies like The Equalizer 3, Lift and Society of the Snow. Trapped came in at number 9 for the week of January 8–January 14.

The movie, per ScreenRant, is “Based on the Greg Iles novel 24 Hours. Trapped is 2002 psychological thriller about a couple who have to fight to save their daughter after she is kidnapped. The film is directed by Luis Mandoki and stars Theron alongside Kevin Bacon, Courtney Love, and Dakota Fanning.”

It is not known how it all of a sudden grabbed a burst of views, but the film was not a success when originally released in 2002. The movie was a dud at the box office when it only managed to earn $13.4 million globally as it sported an estimated $30 million price tag. Reviews for the film were not kind either. Trapped would currently sit at a 17% critical rating on Rotten Tomatoes and only muster up 48% with the audience score.

Theron’s career was not affected by the movie’s performance, as she’s gone on to bigger projects. It was even recently announced that she would be working with her Fast & Furious 9 director, Justin Lin, on a new heist film titled Two for the Money, which is set to co-star Daniel Craig.