User Reviews

I didn't know what to expect from this film with no reviews posted as I write this. What I found was a thriller that contained wild twists and turns as it progressed, but which also contained, at times, such highly implausible plot elements that I found myself shaking my head in disbelief.

Eion Bailey stars here as Dr. Kevin Riley, who is about to embark on a much anticipated Caribbean vacation with his wife Jules (Bethany Joy Lenz) and their six-year-old son Andy (Mauricio E. Alemany). Upon arrival,they rent a boat from a local, but, at the urging of Andy, end up exploring a deserted island far out at sea. However, with their outboard motor failing and with no food or water, they will find themselves in a most precarious and dangerous predicament.

From there, a series of wild and life threatening events will begin, and without writing too many spoilers I will say that a local fisherman named Miguel sees a golden opportunity for extortion here. Barkhad Abdi, who was nominated for and won numerous awards for his motion picture debut in "Captain Phillips" again turns in an amazing and most believable performance as Miguel.

Overall, this movie, written and directed by Phil Volken, was better than I anticipated and certainly kept my attention throughout, but be prepared for some extremely implausible plot elements along the way.

I read a few of the reviews who hated the movie. "how did this make it to Netflix?" - I can tell you how :)

It is entertaining. I read people complaining about how unrealistic the movies are. But those are the same kinds of people who love the Transformers series :) Not saying the movie is unrealistic, but let's face it. It's a movie, not a documentary.

There are a few plot holes, I give you that. But as a software engineer I just roll my eyes when someone 'hacks into a system' (again) in some movie for the sake of storytelling.

I do not need every single detail of the movie to be well researched. Which is why it is a movie.

So much about the disclaimer :) The movie itself is good. Main characters do a great job, it takes you around a few turns in the Caribbean - and the overall message of the movie is great. Family matters more than money.

I rate it 7/10 because of the things that other people actually hated the movie for. I liked it, I just consider those gaps in research 'flaws', not total failures :)

It is definitely worth watching. It is well cast and entertainingly written and filmed. It's far from a B-movie or a low-budget production.

Whoever calls this low-budget doesn't know the first thing about production value.

I caught myself being engaged from the start, things unfold just about how you'd expect in this type of movie although you don't know exactly, we've seen it all before, but it is done alright. Engaged, never bored, but never mindblown. The fugitive 'light' in the Caribbean, not much else to say. Polished feel. Well-deserved 7/10.

The only conclusion I have after watching Extortion is that it could have been much better. The movie is entertaining, there is no doubt about that, but there are too many plot holes in the story. Many times I was thinking "How the hell could he knew that?, That's not possible, Yeah right, and so on". And that's never good in a well balanced story. The acting wasn't bad though, but it could have been better sometimes. The ending wasn't great either, I thought they were just tired of writing a good ending for a movie that could have been much better if they put a bit more effort into it. But to watch once it's okay if you just want some entertaining and you are not to fuzzy about the perfection in a story.

This is my kind of a guilty pleasure movie. I very much enjoyed the experience. A good popcorn flick for weekends.

More realistic than most shootem up movies, especially if you have ever known family love or responsibility. After the first half hour it was constant fear or action all the way until the end.

This is a good film. The guy is a Heart specialist not a boat mechanic yet everyone complains about his inability to fix a boat engine or lawn mower. How are the two related. I can fix an engine so should I be able to mend a human heart 🤣.Priceless medical hands rarely risk injury. Everyone has opinions and think that they know best and that is the norm. Detectives assuming that he killed his family for the insurance etc etc. In real life there are people just that stupid. So it really is not far fetched at all. Watch it and make your own mind up.

I have changed my opinion as I have recently watched quite a few 2 star films that have been edge-of-your seat stuff and some deadly boring 5 star movies. I no longer give star ratings any credit. Especially as people are now "credited" for highly rating certain movies/games/albums etc.

This movie is just OK. The story is noting special, lots of barely believable scenes on which I had to "close" my eyes. I would have expected more from Kevin, an American doctor, in terms of being if not smart, but at least having some brains not to get his family into a potentially dangerous situation, which ended up being disastrous. I am assuming that doctors do have some intellect outside of their medical practices. Now about acting. It was just satisfactory and at times Eion Bailey completely fails to deliver emotions expected from a distraught and desperate father and husband whose family is on a brink of survival. They say that eyes don't lie and it is through eyes we express out emotions, not from a face scrunching ( Will Smith and J.Aniston have never figured this out), so in few scenes where Kevin's agony should have reached an apogee, his eyes remain absolutely calm. I should probably mention that he did manage to pull some emotions in some scenes, but as a whole, his performance was uneven. All other actors did not occupy the screen for long enough to rate their performances, but I would say that no one had impressed me. It is not a bad film, I still recommend to see it, for it has an entertaining value.

American family go traveling to a poor country, flash around money and are surprised the locals are resentful. Dad is a doctor with the brains of an oyster. mum is hollow, child is also hollow but gets more lines than mum (mom for you Yaqui's).

Dad is incompetent reckless and stupid and is amazed when things go wrong.

I think the villains were more likable.

I feel like 2 hours of my life has been thrown away.

I thought the acting was good. Pirate from Capt Phillips played a similar role. Story had some unexpected turns. All in all I enjoyed it. I mean, it's better then some of those Nicholas Cage movies.

Not nearly as bad as some reviews make out. Beautiful, exotic setting and ok storyline. Lots of action so there's very little not to like.

1ST off let me start off by saying this is the 1 n only review I'v evr written.... This movie was great had everything in it u look for in a movie. I read mixed reviews n decided to see for myself n I must say I'm glad I did. The dad(main character) did his thing in this movie. It kept me engaged and entertained from the start till finish.

A B movie? I wish the so called "A" action-packed movies had the suspense and the quality of the screenplay of "extortion ".

It takes a little time to grow on you (and you say to yourself :"another flick with a nice family in jeopardy", but as soon as the "rescuers" appear,the movie is on fire ,and there's no letup as it continues to build in intensity as unexpected sudden new developments keep the viewer glued to his chair ; the screenplay is so gripping that it makes us forget the numerous implausibilities (a doctor who takes his family to a sea trip without bottles of water?); it was the second time I had watched this (longer than the usual movie of this kind the running time of which generally rarely exceeding 90 min) excellent thriller and I was captivated again all along Eian Bailey's trials .Add one of the most terrifying villains of the decade (straight-faced Barkhad Abdi ) whose motives make sense .

I'm sorry but what sort of an idiot takes his family with a small child miles and miles out to sea on a tiny boat with what is practically a lawnmower engine? Come on daddy let's visit treasure island? What a treasure he is. The rest seems inevitable.... it's a watch though even if the circumstances of the situation are shockingly avoidable.

Obvious, cheesy low budget movie. Acting is poor, the plot is predictable and not logical. Don't be fooled by the trailer, this movie is complete disaster. It is so predictable and unrealistic. At one point I had to stop watching because the movie got out of control. The camera is terrible as well, I felt dizzy at times.

Ok it wasn't perfect but it was good - well worth watching and certainly not a disappointment as some of the reviews led me to believe !

The music helped , great 'bourne' type score kept in pace with the action .

The script could have done with a few tweaks but I won't mention those so as to avoid spoilers

Well acted and the usual moral dilemmas what value is life is one life worth more than many others - it's not a revengeful as say the 'taken' films but your morals get questioned over good v evil and that's a good thing in a thriller

Worth watching 7/10 with amazon prime Pad.A

In Extortion, a fisherman, Kaba, comes across the Riley family-husband, wife and 6-year-old son-stranded on an Island in the Caribbean while on holiday. They'd hired a boat for three hours to go sailing, decided to explore a small, unoccupied island on the way out, but ran into engine trouble and couldn't get back to the main island where they are staying. When Kaba happens upon the family several days later, they are barely conscious.

Kaba can rescue them for $1 million, after all he reasons, Riley is a doctor. The man has no option but to agree and although he doesn't have it, will do his best to get it. So leaving wife and son on the island, they set off to the main island to get the ransom money. The doctor manages to collect slightly less than $200,000 (Kshs. 20,000,000) transfer it to the off-shore account given and they set off back to pick up his family, but the intention is actually to kill him at sea. He survives but now the race is on to find his family before they die of dehydration, as he also faces the scrutiny and investigation of the local Detective. There are hundreds of possible islands where mother and child might be, a search will take weeks to complete.

Kaba is played by Barkhad Abdi, Somali-born, refugee in Yemen and now U.S. resident. A former limousine driver, Abdi showed up for a casting call, got the part and history was made when he scored the role of Abduwali Muse, Somali pirate in 'Captain Phillips' (2013). For his role he received the Bafta award for Best Supporting Actor, a Black Reel Award, was nominated for a SAG and Golden Globe award and as cast-member, was nominated for six Academy Awards among others.

Previous to his acting career Abdi had several brushes with the law for drug possession and credit card fraud, and at one time was briefly imprisoned at the Black Hawk County Jail (see historical drama movie 'Black Hawk Down' (2001)). Abdi's life-story would make a great movie; in this role of the stone-cold extortionist he is very believable.

Established Hollywood actor Danny Glover (Beyond the Lights, Dirty Grandpa, Lethal Weapon), a veteran actor, producer and director, much awarded and recognized as a political and humanitarian activist is the skeptical Detective Constable Haagen. We've seen him as a detective before in Lethal Weapon, and here again he plays a man who's heard it all, but will give the main suspect the benefit of the doubt-for now. Eion Bailey (Band of Brothers (TV), Ray Donovan (TV), Law and Order (TV)) plays the father, Kevin Riley, realistically: we understand his frustration as he finds himself in a world where the normal and expected rules don't apply.

Director Phil Volken (Garbage), better known for comedy projects, takes on the adventure, crime genre with a good eye for timing, camera angle and beautiful use of the island scenery. Yes, ugly crime does take place in idyllic paradise, and the two are well juxtaposed. Mostly expertly scripted, there is a confusion of language when Kaba speaks to his accomplice, a fellow fisherman, however the viewer is not left in doubt as to the meaning of the words. An entertaining movie, full of adventure, beautiful sights and suspense.