Hostage (2025) promises high-stakes drama with two female world leaders facing personal and political crises but despite Suranne Jones’ strong performance, the series suffers from slow pacing and predictable twists.
I couldn’t even watch the whole 5 episodes. Even 20 minutes into the first episode I was on my phone because I was bored, and it didn’t grab my attention.
The premise of the show is when the Prime Minister’s husband gets kidnapped, and the French Prime Minister starts to receive threatening messages so both leaders are facing something impossible.
I think that I liked the juxtaposition of having two female world leaders navigating their personal and political crisis.
Suranne Jones who plays the British Prime Minister was brilliant. I just felt that maybe it was the script that I didn’t like.
That’s really where the problem sits for me. The acting wasn’t the issue. Jones and the rest of the cast did their jobs well. You could see flashes of intensity and depth in their performances, but it was buried under clunky pacing and dialogue that felt like it was trying too hard to sound “serious.” A show with such a high-stakes idea world leaders blackmailed and forced to make impossible choices should have had me glued to the screen, but instead I found myself zoning out.
Part of the issue is that the writing treated the audience like we couldn’t handle complexity. Everything was spelled out, every twist was hinted at so heavily that it wasn’t even a twist by the time it happened. When you know exactly where a plot is going, the tension disappears, and that’s fatal for a thriller.
Another frustration was the pacing. I can appreciate a slow burn if it’s leading to something worthwhile, but here it just felt like stalling. The first episode in particular dragged, and when you’re launching a brand-new series, that’s the exact moment when you need to hook your viewers. Instead, it felt like watching political figures pace around in circles, reacting to things without much real urgency.
The one thing that could have set Hostage apart was the angle of having two powerful women at the center of global crisis. That idea alone is unique and could have made for some really compelling drama about gender, leadership, and the personal sacrifices of women in power. Unfortunately, the show barely scratched the surface of that. Instead of diving into how these leaders balance public duty with personal chaos, it reduced them to stock characters caught in predictable thriller beats.
That said, if you’re a big fan of political dramas or you love Suranne Jones, you might still find something to enjoy here. The performances do their best to elevate the material, and there are moments where you catch glimpses of the show Hostage could have been but for me, those glimpses weren’t enough to carry me through.
So while Hostage had the ingredients to be something gripping and timely, it just never came together. Too slow, too obvious, and too unwilling to take risks. If you’re looking for a sharp political thriller, this probably isn’t the one.
Go to Slow Horses instead.