Atom Egoyan brings the oppression of winter into 'The Captive'

Every parent's worst nightmare plays out in "The Captive," Canadian auteur Atom Egoyan's followup to "Devil's Knot," which opened in Japan last year.

In both of these films, a child disappears and the police eye the father as the most likely suspect. The difference is that "Devil's Knot" was based on true events and the victim (a little boy) was killed along with two friends. The screenplay for "The Captive" was penned by Egoyan, and the victim — a 9-year-old girl — stays alive. And this is not a spoiler.

Regardless of their differences, both films were panned. Critics were especially severe toward "The Captive" when it premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2014. It was booed, and a number of people walked out, but those responses seem undeserved and harsh.