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Tom Hardy is an actor with plenty of pedigree when it comes to intense action. From his roles as Max Rockatansky in 2015's "Mad Max: Fury Road" and Eddie Brock/Venom in the "Venom" film trilogy to his multiple collaborations with Christopher Nolan, he's a reliable hand whenever a project calls for a glowering character with a nigh-endless capacity for violence. Meanwhile, thanks to his Indonesian martial arts crime thrillers "The Raid" and "The Raid 2," Gareth Evans has established himself as a filmmaker who's extremely adept at making glowering characters with a nigh-endless capacity for violence clash with each other in entertaining ways.

Combine these two luminaries and Netflix, and you get "Havoc," the hyper-violent shoot 'em up that the streaming platform dropped on April 25, 2025. The premise of a Hardy-Evans team-up seems like a promise for a good time, and its audience has clearly been ready for it. In fact,...

A Netflix thriller based on a harrowing 2022 hostage crisis that played out at an Apple store in Amsterdam is currently the most watched film on the platform. The flick is called iHostage, it just landed on the streamer last week and it’s already dethroned the Clint Eastwood film American Sniper (which was number one earlier this week) to claim the top slot.

A vocal faction of critics and fans have lambasted the film as dull and called out the screenwriting as ineffective, but is it really? The case upon which this film is based is way stranger than fiction, so I hesitate to be too critical of the filmmakers knowing that.

Bobby Boermans helmed the picture. He also takes a ‘created by’ credit alongside Simon de Waal; de Waal takes the sole screenwriting credit. Boermans has previously directed some Dutch television and a handful of features, but iHostage is...

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Westerns might have fallen out of favor decades ago, but they never truly died altogether. Even after the genre became reliably unpopular in the 1970s, we still had a trickle of truly great Westerns from 1992's "Unforgiven" to 2010's "True Grit." Heck, there's even been some great Western movies to come out of the last decade. Still, it remains true that the genre's glory days are long behind it.

But in recent years, as Hollywood has discovered that conservatives also watch things and dads everywhere have finally learned how to use streaming services, there's been hints of a modest Western revival. By far the most influential factor at play here is Taylor Sheridan's "Yellowstone" and its various spin-offs, which have proved that Westerns, both neo and traditional, not only maintain a certain appeal, but can be the basis for...

Angelina Jolie is mostly known as a highly profitable action star, especially for her run in the early 2000s. Even at the height of her stardom, her projects were plagued with poor reviews.

Her 2002 rom-com Life or Something Like It was no exception. Even though it premiered three years after her Oscar for 1999's Girl, Interrupted, and in the midst of her Tomb Raider fame, the rom-com was a major critical and commercial failure. However, many projects get an afterlife on streaming, and Tudum reports Jolie's Life or Something Like It was a major hit on Netflix following its debut on streaming.

For the week between Apr. 14 and 20, Life or Something Like It debuted in third place in the global charts. The rom-com received encouraging numbers, with 5.5 million views and 9.6 million hours viewed.

Life or Something Like It debuted in the Top 10 in 24 countries across South and North America,...

Those who were around to witness it would remember what a culture-defining moment the release of The Passion of the Christ was over two decades ago. The movie was controversial, but also highly successful. Until Deadpool & Wolverine debuted last year, it was the highest-grossing R-rated hit of all time. It should come as no surprise that The Passion of the Christ remains as popular as ever; the movie found a prime spot on Netflix's weekly top 10 list. This resurgence could perhaps be credited to the Good Friday and Easter Sunday holidays, which also saw quite a selection of faith-based offerings at the box office.

The Passion of the Christfinished second in Netflix's top 10 weekly rankings, in the non-English movies' category. It was the number one movie in 10 countries, and accumulated a total of 8.5 million views over the week. Additionally, it was also among the top 10 movies in as many as 46 countries worldwide,...

Netflix is known for many things, but true crime (like that disturbing documentary about Kidfluencers) and barely serviceable thrillers are surely two of the most salient. Now, the streamer has combined the two into the ultimate piece of Netflix "content" and wouldn't you know it, the result is a worldwide mega-hit.

"iHostage" is a new thriller from the streamer based upon the real-life hostage event that took place in Amsterdam back in 2022. On February 22 of that year, a 27-year-old gunman entered the Apple Store in Leidseplein, Amsterdam, and held customers hostage for almost five hours, demanding €200 million in cryptocurrency to end the ordeal. The hostage-taker, later identified by Dutch newspaper Het Parool as Abdel Rahman Akkad, focused mainly on one captive customer, a 44-year-old Bulgarian man, while others hid in the store and people on the upper floor of the building remained trapped. During the crisis, police evacuated around 70 people...

Netflix has been treating subscribers to many original films and shows, both in English and foreign languages. Most recently, a lot of foreign productions have attracted subscribers.

Netflix's Squid Game is the streamer's most popular title so far, and in recent months, several new releases have become so popular they joined the Top 10 Most Popular lists, like the action film Ad Vitam and the disaster limited series La Palma. Its success with foreign titles was highlighted this week with two new titles: the Dutch thriller iHostage, and the limited series The Glass Dome. Per Tudum, the Nordic noir Swedish series The Glass Dome has caught the eye of millions of subscribers.

The Glass Dome premiered on Netflix on Apr. 15 and immediately entered the charts. For the week between Apr. 14 and 20, the Swedish series debuted in second place on the global charts. It received 9.2 million views and 42.6 million hours viewed. The Glass...

Netflix users can't get enough of the new Dutch thriller iHostage. The streaming platform has had a lot of success with its foreign titles, with many recent releases becoming wildly popular despite poor reviews.

The Dutch thriller premiered on Netflix on Apr. 18. Based on a true story, iHostage follows a man who enters an Apple Store with a gun and starts firing shots, taking customers and employees hostage. Following its premiere, iHostage quickly took the charts hostage, both domestically and globally, per Tudum.

In its first week between Apr. 16 and 22, iHostage became the No. 1 film in the non-English charts with 15.1 million views and 25.7 million hours viewed. The film entered the top 10 in 92 countries, and became the No. 1 film in 31 of them, including in the U.S.

Despite the fact that it premiered around the Easter weekend, iHostage even beat Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ, which also boasted big numbers,...

iHostage (2025) is more than just a gripping thriller—it’s a profound exploration of the psychological and emotional aftermath of a real-life hostage crisis. The film delves into the lingering shadows of trauma, following the intertwined journeys of its three central figures: Ilian, the direct victim struggling to reclaim a sense of normalcy; Mingus, the quiet hero who acted selflessly in the face of fear; and Winston, the duty-bound officer burdened by the weight of responsibility. Rather than focusing solely on survival, iHostage asks a deeper question—what does it truly mean to live in the wake of terror?

Spoilers Ahead

iHostage (2025) Plot Summary and Movie Synopsis: How is the Relationship between Ilian and his Wife?

Ilian clearly values his connection with his wife. Even though he has just arrived in Amsterdam after a tiring journey, he takes her call without hesitation. Despite the inconvenience of having to use speakerphone,...

The Netflix weekly TV charts got an overhaul last week.

Season 7 of the techno-paranoia series Black Mirror managed 10.6M views in its first full week on the platform from April 14 to 20, which is up from its debut week’s 7.1M to put it in first place among English-language TV. Though, both weeks of viewership have been down compared to Season 6. Similarly, that season didn’t top the charts until its first full week on the streamer either, but it amassed 11.6M views when it did.

Second place went to Ransom Canyon, which debuted on the charts with 7.2M views, while Adolescence fell to third place with another 6M views during this interval. The limited series is now sitting at 130M views since it premiered, so it is inching close to overtaking Stranger Things 4 on the all-time most popular list, but it still has a ways to go.

Elsewhere, Pulse also...

A man storms into an Apple Store, gun in hand, and fires shots. As he takes customers and employees hostage, the armed man demands a breathtaking amount of money — all in cryptocurrency — before he’ll let anyone go. iHostage, inspired by the 2022 hostage crisis at an Amsterdam Apple Store, follows the attacker and those he’s holding for ransom. Directed by Bobby Boermans and written by Simon de Waal (The Golden Hour), the film stars Soufiane Moussouli, Loes Haverkort, and Marcel Hensema.

Stream it now.

Check it out at the top of this page.

When an armed man, Dutch national Ammar Ajar (Moussouli), enters an Amsterdam Apple Store, he demands a ransom of more than $200 million — and safe passage out of the city. He then takes Ilian Petrov (Šehović), a Bulgarian visitor, as his main hostage. Soon, chief negotiator Lynn (Haverkort) steps in, buying time for a...

Mel Gibson's controversial 2004 biblical epic "The Passion of the Christ" is riding high on Netflix this Easter season. According to FlixPatrol, the film was the fourth most-watched movie on Netflix in the U.S. on April 21, 2025, right behind "iHostage," "Oklahoma City Bombing: American Terror," and "Despicable Me 4." That selection is a testament to the diverse range of movies available to stream on the platform, but Gibson's feature is probably the most polarizing of the bunch, as the prickly subject matter of "The Passion of the Christ" is still divisive after all these years.

"The Passion of the Christ" tells the story of Jesus of Nazareth (Jim Caviezel) during the final hours of his life, in which he's betrayed by one of his disciples, tortured endlessly, and crucified. The film is also notable for its extreme and shocking violence, which is comparable to the so-called "torture porn" craze...

Having gone through Director Bobby Boermans’ iHostage, I am a bit confused whether to appreciate the crude/tasteless humor conveyed by the title of the movie, which satirizes hyper-consumerism by slapping product tags on a real-life hostage crisis, or to use this point to have my already mediocre experience watching the movie ruined even further. Based on the 2022 Amsterdam Apple store hostage situation, iHostage re-enacts the event as a methodical, elaborate police procedural, and even though there is a conscious effort to humanize the characters involved, both perpetrator and victims, but as a viewer you can’t help but feel distanced due to the bare minimum efforts dedicated to the characterization. The documentary-level authenticity shown through the buildup, ramping up the tension definitely deserves acknowledgement, but there exists an emotional gap that contributes to an overall disconnect in the narrative.

Spoilers Ahead

What Was Ammar’s Motive Behind Hijacking?

iHostage...

Netflix’s iHostage is a tense Dutch thriller that dramatizes the real-life 2022 hostage situation at an Apple Store in Amsterdam. Directed by Bobby Boermans and written by Simon de Waal, the film offers a mosaic-style narrative, presenting the crisis through multiple perspectives, including the perpetrator, hostages, and emergency responders. Premiered globally on April 18, 2025, iHostage delves into the psychological and emotional facets of a city held in suspense. This article provides a comprehensive details about Netflix’s iHostage cast and characters.

Plot Overview

Inspired by the actual events of February 2022, iHostage centers on Ilian, a Bulgarian man who becomes an unwitting hostage when a gunman named Ammar seizes control of an Apple Store in Amsterdam’s Leidseplein district. As the situation unfolds, the film explores the intricate dynamics between the captor, the hostages, and the police negotiators striving to resolve the standoff peacefully. The narrative sheds light on the motivations, fears,...

A Skorpion vz. 61 submachine gun, a handgun, and a bomb vest. These were the weapons that Ammar Ajar, the fictional life counterpart of real-life hostage-taker, Abdel Rahman Akkad, was armed with during the hostage situation at the center of iHostage. On February 22, 2022, Abdel entered the Apple Store on the ground floor of the Hirsch building and fired a few shots to terrorize the people inside the premises. And even though it looked like an armed robbery at first, that wasn’t what Abdel had in mind. I mean, what would you steal from an electronics store? A few MacBooks and iPhones? Netflix’s iHostage, on various occasions, hinted that Abdel just wanted to intimidate the authorities so that they would immediately approve his demands and let him walk freely without any fuss. As per the reports, it was Abdel himself who dialed the 112 emergency number and asked to speak with...

Netflix’s crime drama, iHostage, is a cinematic adaptation of the Amsterdam Apple Store hostage incident. Given the fact that Dutch director Bobby Boermans witnessed the events unfold in real time back in 2022, it is no wonder that the movie never lacked authenticity in its reenactment of the crisis. To add on to the dramatic elements, the movie focused on several characters—all of whom are shown to be connected with the central crisis in one way or another, thereby imbuing the necessary human touch that allows viewers the perspective to assess the crisis. However, the characterization isn’t developed as much as it should have been to make viewers feel sympathetic to the plight of either the victims/hostages or the perpetrator in question—which is a missed opportunity, to say the least.

Ammar Ajar, played by Soufiane Moussouli

Dutch actor Soufiane Moussouli began his acting career with theater performances,...

It's the weekend, and you might be looking for something to stream. You are likely looking for something on your favorite streaming service, Netflix. The good news is that there are several new arrivals to see.

The bad news is that while there are many that are high-quality productions, they might not all be fun to view. That does not mean they won't be riveting, but you might want to watch a comedy after them.

All three ideas of what to watch on Netflix came out in the few days before this weekend. This means you can decide for yourself how good they are before the masses tell you otherwise.

What to stream on Netflix this weekendRansom Canyon

Better than Yellowstone? That's what some people are saying, but the decision is up to you. There are devotees of the Kevin Costner-led series who will argue it is the most incredible show ever made.

You see, there’s a reason why Netflix’s iHostage claims that it’s inspired by a true story and not based on one. Director Bobby Boermans and writer Simon de Waal have made a few noticeable changes to the true story, mostly to protect the privacy of the hostages and the authorities involved in the hostage situation. The Bulgarian man who was held hostage at gunpoint by the armed hostage-taker, Abdel Rahman Akkad, pleaded with the local channels and newspaper to remove his name from their reports so he could go back to his normal life and try his best to forget the horrors he was put through on February 22, 2022. As far as the Dsi officers and police negotiators are concerned, their names have been altered as well, though many of these officials have given numerous interviews to various media outlets after the incident, sharing how they contained the...

After having seen numerous tech products termed as revolutionary simply because they have a lowercase ‘i’ in front of them, owing to the proprietary naming conventions of Apple, we are finally set to watch iHostage, a new Dutch film streaming on Netflix. As the name suggests, the film’s plot has very much to do with the multi-billion-dollar tech company (Apple would have surely sued the makers otherwise), for it concerns a terrible hostage situation that took place at an Apple Store in Amsterdam in February of 2022. While the premise and the overall storyline in iHostage are quite interesting, the lack of depth or perspective means that we cannot empathize with either side, so it makes for an average watch.

Spoiler Alert

What is the Netflix film about?

iHostage begins at the busy Amsterdam Centraal station on a usual morning in the Netherlands, where a man named Ilian Petrov arrives...

Based on a horrifying real incident, Netflix’s iHostage is a testament to how your whole life can turn upside down in a snap. None of the customers and the Apple store staff had imagined in their worst nightmares that they would be taken hostage by an armed assailant, and the entire incident is gonna leave them traumatized for life. Mingus’ character is based on a real-life store employee, Alex Manuputty, who worked in the sales department. After the incident, Alex gave numerous interviews and provided first-hand information to the director, Roos Gerritsen, whose 2024 documentary film, The Hostage Situation in the Apple Store, serves as the source material for Netflix’s iHostage. The first scene that you watched in the film is based on the testimony of Alex, who had switched shifts with a colleague on February 22, 2022, and was helping the customers. At around 5:30 Pm, an armed hostage-taker, Abdel Rahman Akkad,...

The first thought that crosses your mind when watching a film like iHostage is what made the perpetrator take that step; what were his motivations; what was going through his mind at that particular moment; and what was he trying to prove to the world? When a hostage taker by the name of Abdel Rahman Akkad (Ammar in the Netflix film) started waving his guns around in an Apple store in Leidseplein on 22nd February 2022, nobody knew what his intentions were and why, of all places, he chose an ordinary electronics store to take hostages. I mean, generally a person who wants money would either go to a bank or a jewelry shop, right? But our perpetrator went directly to an Apple Store and held a Bulgarian man hostage for the next 5 hours.

Maybe Abdel had a theory in his mind that if he attacked a place of historic relevance...

There is this misconception that a documentary (or docuseries) based on a true story is supposed to just convey information, while a feature film (or a TV series) based on a true story is supposed to not just convey information but also move us emotionally. But if you have watched enough documentaries, docuseries, feature films, and shows, you know that it’s not as simple as that. Facts and interviews can be presented in a way that compels you to think about the subject in a certain manner even though you don’t know if you are getting the full picture. Meanwhile, fictionalized recreations can focus solely on data and statistics, without having the need to dabble in melodrama, and still be effective. That said, regardless of the genre one chooses to tell a true story, the thing that matters the most is the intent behind it. What is the...

Bobby Boermans’ Netflix crime thriller film, iHostage, is centered around a shocking true incident that took place some three years ago on February 22, 2022, in Leidseplein, one of the prime locations in Central Amsterdam famous for its buzzing nightlife. At around 5:30 in the evening, the police control room received information about a possible robbery. A 27-year-old Amsterdammer, Abdel Rahman Akkad, armed with a machine pistol and a handgun, took around 70 people hostage inside an Apple Store located on the ground floor of the Hirsch building. As soon as the customers heard of the robbery, chaos ensued and people standing near the entrance quickly fled the store. Those who couldn’t access the front gates hid themselves in different locations just to protect themselves from the assailant.

Abdel Died In The Hospital

Some eleven minutes later, at 5:41 pm, a police car arrived at the scene, and Abdel fired at them four times; thankfully,...

Comedy, romance, drama, true crime - but enough about my life. As it turns out, Netflix also has all of that in store for you this week. Get those blue blocker glasses and eyedrops ready, fam - it's binging time again!

It's so fun when Netflix adds a baker's dozen titles. It makes me think of fudge-drizzled French crullers, apple fritters, and raspberry-glazed yeast donuts. Yeah, my diet is going just fine. Why do you ask? Oh yeah, we're here to talk about movies and shows. My bad.

This week, you'll find a few old favorites, another dark and brooding Scandinavian thriller series, a mini-series masquerading as a documentary, a true-crime series, and a documentary on an American disaster—whew, can we lighten the mood here, please?

Oh, thank goodness, I see Tina Fey and Amy Poehler popping up. We also get a new Western series and a heartfelt Korean dramatic series,...

There are some interesting titles hitting Netflix next week. It’s a tight lineup of fresh series, gripping films, and a few old favorites that feel like comfort food. Whether you’re after a tense thriller or a quick laugh, there’s something here to light up your screen.

The mix feels just right—not too much to wade through, but enough to keep your watchlist buzzing. From big casts to bold ideas, these titles are ready to pull you in. I’ve been checking out what’s coming, and I’m stoked to share the highlights you’ll want to catch.

‘The Glass Dome’ – April 15

This Swedish series follows a criminologist chasing a missing-person case that cuts deep into her own past. The snowy backdrop and tight cast set a moody tone, with every episode peeling back layers of secrets.

Related: Every Movie & TV Show Coming to Netflix in...

Netflix has unveiled the lineup of new TV shows and movies that will arrive on the platform in April 2025.

Among the highlights will be the April 10th premiere of Black Mirror’s seventh season, named by Consequence as one of the most anticipated TV shows of 2025. Other notable titles classic films like The Breakfast Club, Psycho, Field of Dreams, Heat, and Rudy; new episodes of My Next Guest Needs No Introduction With David Letterman; and documentaries like Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing and Carlos Alcaraz: My Way;

Find what other movies and shows are streaming on Netflix beginning in April 2025 below.

Titles Coming To Netflix In March:

*This list may not be comprehensive and is subject to change

April 1

The Age of Innocence

Big Daddy

Bonnie & Clyde

The Breakfast Club

Conan the Destroyer

Couples Retreat

The Croods

Draft Day

Field of Dreams

For Love of the Game...

Netflix is set to bring subscribers a lot of exciting films in April, not just funny ones, but several thrillers. This should be a good thing because the streamer has made a habit of making fantastic series in the genre. The movies, hopefully, will be just as good.

The only issue is that we have to wait until the middle of the month to start streaming them. Then, in one week, we get the three flicks below. That should be an intense week.

But just like with some new series arrivals (or new seasons of great shows) in April, you might need to make plans to miss work. Surely, your boss will understand. Heck, maybe have the whole work crew over to watch these winners.

Three movies coming to Netflix in April that you will not want to missiHostage (April 18)

This thriller is based on actual events from 2022, when a...