Rendition

"What if someone you love... just disappeared?"

2007 2h 0m EN

😐

6.4

MID

★6.4TMDB · 771

DramaThriller

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

When an Egyptian terrorism suspect "disappears" on a flight from Africa to Washington DC, his American wife and a CIA analyst find themselves caught up in a struggle to secure his release from a secret detention facility somewhere outside the US.

“What if someone you love... just disappeared?”

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Cast

Reese Witherspoon
Isabella Fields El-Ibrahimi
Jake Gyllenhaal
Douglas Freeman
Meryl Streep
Corrine Whitman
Alan Arkin
Senator Hawkins
Peter Sarsgaard
Alan Smith
Omar Metwally
Anwar El-Ibrahimi
Igal Naor
Abasi Fawal
Hadar Ratzon Rotem
Safiya

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Gavin Hood
Writers: Kelley Sane
Languages: Arabic, English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Earned back only 90% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 19 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: Arabic, English.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Gavin Hood, shot by Dion Beebe. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Paul Hepker. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Megan Gill shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Reese Witherspoon and Jake Gyllenhaal and Meryl Streep carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "What if someone you love... just disappeared?".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Gavin Hood directs. Dion Beebe behind the camera. Paul Hepker scores. Megan Gill cuts. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in Arabic, English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Earned back only 90% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
2Released 19 years ago.
3Dialogue crosses 2 languages: Arabic, English.
4Directed by Gavin Hood, shot by Dion Beebe. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Paul Hepker. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Megan Gill shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Reese Witherspoon and Jake Gyllenhaal and Meryl Streep carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "What if someone you love... just disappeared?".
9IMDB entry: tt0804522 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 23 themes, including "central intelligence agency (cia)", "police brutality", "government", "politics".

The technical file

Cinematography: Dion Beebe
Original score: Paul Hepker
Editing: Megan Gill
Production design: Barry Robison
Costume design: Michael Wilkinson
Makeup / hair: Madelein Krugell
Runtime: 120 min · 2h 0m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $27,500,000
Box office: $24,748,670
Return: 90% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Rendition (2007)

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Gavin Hood

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Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2025-12-28
★ 6/10
I remember there were all sort of speculations about the CIA using rendition techniques around the time this was released, and I actually thought it could have been a powerful light to shine on an US government that tended to act with impunity when it suited it - especially if your name didn’t happen to originate in the West. That’s what happens to Egyptian-born engineer “Anwar” (Omar Metwally) who is travelling home to his wife (Reese Witherspoon) in the States when he is “diverted” on the instructions of “Whitman” (Meryl Streep) to a dark and unholy place where he is stripped of his clothes and his dignity, then questioned about a recent bombing atrocity - all under the watchful eye of “Freeman” (Jake Gyllenhaal) who is clearly torn between loyalty to his country and his own sense of human decency. Meantime, as you might expect, the wife of the captive man - completely unaware of his whereabouts, raises the issues with her senator (Alan Arkin) via his aide “Smith” (Peter Sarsgaard) but they seem more preoccupied with the optics of appearing to be on the wrong side of public opinion than they are about finding this man. Now of course there is the slightest of chances that “Anwar” does know something, but it’s about as remote as the source of the Amazon and the question quickly becomes more about the internecine game of political chess being played by all sides in this game with scant regard for a man whom in Metwally is easily the most convincing actor on the screen. To be fair to it, this film does begin quite promisingly with the arbitrary exercise of power making a mockery of any thoughts of democratic oversight, but Gyllenhaal is nowhere near his best and neither is the underused Witherspoon who seems uncertain as to just how she wants to play the part of the terrified, pregnant, wife. It’s conclusion is all a bit rushed, but it does show just how duplicitous and Machiavellian people can be when there are laws both within and outside the law - it's just a shame that wasn’t explored more fully.

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