Ranker FilmList RulesMovies about kidnappings and kidnappers.
No one wants to be kidnapped, but everyone loves a good kidnapping movie. Human trafficking, a parent's fear that their kid could mysteriously disappear off the school playground one day, drug related kidnapping, news footage of a victim of a kidnapping finally returning home after being gone for two decades, seeing a group of friends, families and neighbors searching through the forest for a missing child – films about child abductions run the gamut, keeping viewers on the edge of their seats.
Some of the movies featured on this list involve a kidnapping story based on real life events where a child has gone missing, the emotional traumas they suffered, how many years it took for them to be found, and how it affected friends and families. Others create a fictional world in which a kidnapping occurs.
This list has the best kidnapping movies, including: Taken, Ransom, Man on Fire, Along Came a Spider, Misery, Kiss the Girls, Don’t Say a Word, Proof of Life, A Perfect World, The Missing, and Breakdown.
Vote up your favorite kidnapping capers, or add your favorite film below that isn't already on the list.
1
30979Man on Fire
Mickey Rourke, Denzel WashingtonReleased: 2004
Directed by: Tony Scott
2
404122Taken
Liam Neeson, Famke JanssenReleased: 2008
Directed by: Pierre Morel
3
27474Misery
Lauren Bacall, Kathy BatesReleased: 1990
Directed by: Rob Reiner
4
17567Kiss the Girls
Morgan Freeman, Ashley JuddReleased: 1997
Directed by: Gary Fleder
5
17568Prisoners
Hugh Jackman, Jake GyllenhaalReleased: 2013
Directed by: Denis Villeneuve
6
15761Along Came a Spider
Morgan Freeman, Monica PotterReleased: 2001
Directed by: Lee Tamahori
7
12057Gone Baby Gone
Casey Affleck, Michelle MonaghanReleased: 2007
Directed by: Ben Affleck
8
11760Man on Fire
Joe Pesci, Danny AielloReleased: 1987
Directed by: Elie Chouraqui
9
8644Not Without My Daughter
Sally Field, Alfred MolinaReleased: 1991
Directed by: Brian Gilbert
10
5948The Silence
Ulrich Thomsen, Burghart KlaußnerReleased: 2013
Directed by: Baran Odar
11
169177Ransom
Mel Gibson, Liev SchreiberReleased: 1996
Directed by: Ron Howard
12
117119Greta
Isabelle Huppert, Chloë Grace MoretzReleased: 2019
Directed by: Neil Jordan
13
89100Don't Say a Word
Famke Janssen, Michael DouglasReleased: 2001
Directed by: Gary Fleder
14
3533Breakdown
Kurt Russell, Kathleen QuinlanReleased: 1997
Directed by: Jonathan Mostow
15
3338A Perfect World
Clint Eastwood, Kevin CostnerReleased: 1993
Directed by: Clint Eastwood
16
72Extraction
Chris Hemsworth, David HarbourReleased: 2020
Directed by: Sam Hargrave
17
64The Guilty
Jakob Cedergren, Jessica DinnageReleased: 2018
Directed by: Gustav Möller
18
52Take Me
Pat Healy, Taylor SchillingReleased: 2017
Directed by: Pat Healy
19
2633Spartan
Kristen Bell, Val KilmerReleased: 2004
Directed by: David Mamet
20
2131Not Forgotten
Chloë Grace Moretz, Claire ForlaniReleased: 2009
Directed by: Dror Soref
21
6089The Missing
Cate Blanchett, Evan Rachel WoodReleased: 2003
Directed by: Ron Howard
22
25The Tracker
Dolph Lundgren, Cosimo FuscoReleased: 2019
Directed by: Giorgio Serafini
23
1729Target
Gene Hackman, Matt DillonReleased: 1985
Directed by: Arthur Penn
24
4775The Deep End of the Ocean
Michelle Pfeiffer, Whoopi GoldbergReleased: 1999
Directed by: Ulu Grosbard
25
59101Savages
Salma Hayek, Blake LivelyReleased: 2012
Directed by: Oliver Stone
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