Critic Rating
(read reviews)User Rating
A chilling exploration of the Somali pirate phenomenon. It's 2008 and the CEC Future, a Danish-owned merchant ship, is on high alert sailing through the swath of sea between Somalia and Yemen filled with pirates. Machine guns sound on the boat's hull and for two months this 13-man crew will be held at the mercy of Somali pirates, helpless as hostage negotiations threaten their lives and cameras capture every move.
Variety by Peter Debruge
Assembled from three years’ worth of visits to one of the world’s most volatile hot zones, the format of Stolen Seas is as every bit as exciting as its content, raising beguiling questions about how the team managed to acquire the footage so stunningly interwoven by editor Garret Price.
Chicago Sun-Times
Thymaya Payne's Stolen Seas is a documentary of such ambitious scope that you might need a remote control and a notebook to keep up with it.
Chicago Sun-Times by Omer M. Mozaffar
Thymaya Payne's Stolen Seas is a documentary of such ambitious scope that you might need a remote control and a notebook to keep up with it.
Los Angeles Times by Glenn Whipp
What really elevates the film, though, is the crucial context that Payne provides to explain — but not justify — the pirates' actions.
Village Voice
The protracted 2008 ship-napping of the CEC Future...is couched in illuminating context.
The Hollywood Reporter by Sheri Linden
The documentary Stolen Seas is not just a high-energy chronicle of a ship's hijacking; Thymaya Payne's bold debut feature steps back for a view of Somali piracy that's both broader and more incisive than most mainstream news coverage.
Village Voice by Alan Scherstuhl
The protracted 2008 ship-napping of the CEC Future...is couched in illuminating context.
The New York Times by Jeannette Catsoulis
A documentary that yearns to be an adventure movie, Stolen Seas can't resist drowning its invaluable insights in thundering, drum-heavy music and flashing visuals. Magnificent in its thoroughness and nuance, this dense, multifaceted study of Somali piracy really needs to settle down.
Time Out
An admirably balanced, wide-ranging look at the phenomenon of Somali high-seas piracy.
Time Out by Andrew Schenker
An admirably balanced, wide-ranging look at the phenomenon of Somali high-seas piracy.
Loading recommendations...
Loading recommendations...