using the "Desperate Hours" template that has fueled countless thrillers since, "Survive the Night" is a particularly forgettable example of a tired subgenre that, like so many of Willis' recent efforts, squanders his still estimable movie-star charisma
screenwriter Matt Eskandari's predictable plot abandons realism -- along with any unexpected character revelations. There's no shocking, jolting violence or queasy ick-making accidents
Bruce Willis co-stars in absurd, bloody hostage thriller; This movie looks and sounds like a real thriller, but the premise and the characters' behaviors and interactions are so stunningly absurd that it's nearly impossible to turn your brain off & enjoy
an unpretentious B-movie that swiftly delivers an uncomplicated plot with a clear beginning, middle, and end; it's not a thinking person's movie. But a perfectly adequate "efficiency movie"
by Jeffrey M. Anderson [Common Sense Media ]
by Brian Shaer [Film Threat ]
