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iHostage wastes no time establishing its tension. Set in a glass-walled Apple Store in Amsterdam, the Dutch thriller opens with a hostage situation demanding millions in crypto. Based on real events from 2022, the film debuted in April 2025 and has since drawn attention for its emotional depth and grounded realism.
Directed by Bobby Boermans, iHostage adopts a real-time narrative style that immerses viewers in the hostage crisis, capturing the tension, uncertainty, and human emotion involved. If you’re wondering where to stream it and whether it’s worth your time and popcorn, here's everything you need to know.
The film is distributed by and available to watch on Netflix, where it entered the top 10 most-watched titles in the Netherlands on April 19, 2025. It also ranked in the top 10 in 62 countries within a week of its premiere, making it one of the platform’s biggest recent successes. Netflix plans begin at $7.99/month with ads, with standard and premium tiers priced at $17.99/month and $24.99/month, respectively.
More details about iHostage
iHostage is one of the grittiest and most realistic crime thrillers in recent months. The film follows an ordinary day at an Apple Store in Amsterdam that turns into a high-stakes hostage crisis on February 22, 2022. A gunman walks in, allegedly strapped with a bomb vest, and demands €200 million in cryptocurrency. Among the hostages is a 44-year-old Bulgarian man who finds himself in the middle of a five-hour ordeal broadcast live across the nation.
This isn’t fiction—it happened. And iHostage, under Boermans’ direction, chooses not to sensationalize the story. Instead, it zooms in on the psychological toll of the standoff. While the characters’ names have been changed and some cinematic liberties taken, the core of the story is rooted in reality. The narrative is told through five perspectives: the hostage, the attacker, a store employee, the negotiator, and the SWAT commander. These viewpoints add emotional weight, showing how the crisis impacted each person differently.
The screenplay, written by former detective Simon de Waal, leans into the psychological pressure of the situation—touching on themes of isolation, control, and survival. Filmed in actual Dutch locations like Leidseplein and Katwijk, the film maintains a strong sense of realism throughout.
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iHostage quickly climbed Netflix’s non-English charts, recording over 15 million views in its first week. Critical reception was mixed: some praised its raw authenticity, while others noted a slower narrative pace. But it undeniably sparked important conversations. In the Netherlands especially, the police’s final decision to end the standoff by running over the gunman with a van became the subject of public and legal debate.
You can stream iHostage now on Netflix, with options for multiple languages and formats.
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