A compact, tense movie with only five speaking parts, this effective thriller taps a bit into contemporary cultural divides and social anxiety to make the most of its cat-and-mouse game.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Apr 4, 2025

Locked isn’t unique if you’ve seen 4×4, but it also goes in unexpected directions. It’s a lot like the Steven Knight-written and directed drama Locke starring Tom Hardy took one of the violently pumping gears out of Quentin Tarantino’s Death Proof.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Apr 4, 2025

There is only so much you can do with two unlikable characters in a car despite game actors. Claustrophobia is lost thanks to both spaciousness and fisheyes and the film barely has time to make its case against class warfare.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Mar 31, 2025

To the correct audience, however, Locked is a pretty accurate depiction of where we are right now. A populace beholden to the whims of an oligarchy setting obvious traps to justify its own violence.

| Original Score: 6/10 | Mar 28, 2025

As a genre exercise, I enjoyed it a lot.

| Mar 28, 2025

Even though the film only runs a bit over 90 minutes, it feels much longer because there’s only so much that can be accomplished in a car that Eddie isn’t even driving...

| Original Score: 2/4 | Mar 26, 2025

The concept is everything here, and for much of this edgy thriller a cleverly catchy idea keeps up its end of the bargain in fine style.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Mar 26, 2025

Skarsgård struggles with slack-a-daisical pacing in Locked. Even Hopkins, armed with his Hannibal-Lecter-style calmly malevolent line readings, never manages to raise the helter-skelter level much above a dull roar.

| Mar 25, 2025

Makes for a twisted car commercial for an anti-theft device.

| Original Score: C | Mar 24, 2025

Hopkins is assured and perfectly cast as the erudite sadist who has provided for almost every eventuality.

| Original Score: B- | Mar 24, 2025

The film crafts a nerve-wracking experience that forces both its protagonist and the audience into a relentless battle of wits and endurance.

| Mar 24, 2025

Not bad of its kind. It’s just that its kind doesn’t amount to much... Despite the considerable talent of the two leads, this is a thriller that lurches along in fits and starts rather than exuding high-octane energy from beginning to end.

| Original Score: C+ | Mar 24, 2025

Locked is the type of disaster that can’t even be saved by two phenomenal lead actors.

| Mar 24, 2025

An interesting premise beautifully acted, skillfully directed, but ultimately stymied by a script that mires itself in a repetitive second act that doesn't so much expand as aggravate.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Mar 23, 2025

Locked strives hard to keep the viewer entertained throughout, and it does well for the most part. We're not reinventing the wheel here. But overall Locked is nothing special, like expected. It feels like a direct to streaming film.

| Original Score: 6.5/10 | Mar 23, 2025

“Locked” is an economical film with a handful of talented actors, limited location and lots of sadistic tricks up its sleeve, but as a viewer, you will begin to relate to Eddie’s plight and wonder when the movie will let you escape.

| Mar 23, 2025

Locked solely rests on the shoulders of Bill Skarsgard (...) The manner in which he almost weaponizes his vocals and body language to portray the blend of fear and anger that his character is experiencing is tremendous.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Mar 22, 2025

The script, written by Michael Arlen Ross, struggles to sustain the tension over its 95-minute runtime. What starts as a clever cat-and-mouse game soon turns repetitive, circling the same beats with diminishing returns.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Mar 22, 2025

Filmmaker David Yarovesky and writer Michael Arlen Ross have lots of tricks up their sleeves, including arguments about Marx and Dostoyevsky, not to mention actors who don't need to be in the same space to raise gooseflesh.

| Mar 22, 2025

The opportunity to see this pairing is the main reason to recommend a trip to the theater (but maybe you’ll want to take alternate transportation).

| Mar 22, 2025