Take Me is the directorial debut of actor Pat Healy, and the latest evidence that Netflix is operating as a classic Hollywood movie studio. The movie is about an entrepreneur (played by Healy) who specializes in fake kidnapping. The idea is that clients figure out how beautiful life is, how lucky they are to be living it, and how they respond in high stress situations. A prospective client calls Ray and tells him that he can make quite a bit doing a seemingly simple job over a weekend. The target is Anna St. Blair, played by Taylor Schilling from Orange Is the New Black, a business consultant.
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Seems simple enough, until it isn't. Things go wrong. Laughs are had. Lessons are learned. Hilarity seems to ensue.
The fake kidnapping business is real, by the way. GQ's Drew Magary experienced one himself. Here's how he described the key point:
"At some point, in order for the illusion to work, the script has to break down," he writes. "The kidnapper has to acknowledge that the kidnapping is fake and then create the impression that the fake kidnapping has somehow gone awry. All it takes is a tiny seed of doubt. I had asked to not be stun-gunned — a small break in the rules. And I was suddenly not fully confident that I knew Adam's entire criminal history. It also dawned on me that, outside of my captors, no one on earth knew where I was. I quietly began to freak out. Control was slipping from me, just a bit, and the doubt began to creep in with surprising ease. I considered blurting out the safe word, but I didn't, because I was terrified that nothing would happen."
We're guessing that the fake fake kidnapping will have somewhat higher stakes than the real fake kidnapping.
Watch the trailer below.
Take Me will premiere at Tribeca April 25 and on streaming services May 5.