John Goodman and Ashton Sanders star in a scene from the movie "Captive State." The Catholic News Service classification is A-III -- adults. (CNS/Focus Features)

By Catholic News Service

Drab sci-fi drama in which, nine years after humanity surrendered the earth to invading aliens, a young Chicago man (Ashton Sanders) gets caught up in a conspiracy to rebel against them. He and the other plotters are tracked by a local police official (John Goodman) whose ultimate allegiance in the struggle is unclear.

Director and co-writer Rupert Wyatt sets out to tell a thoughtful, complex story, and his film, which also features Jonathan Majors, Vera Farmiga and Colson Baker, aka rapper Machine Gun Kelly, does engage more interest as the interlocking elements of the planned uprising emerge. But the movie as a whole never quite gels, and the inclusion of some gritty settings and behavior makes this strictly adult fare.

Considerable violence with some gore, torture, multiple suicides, glimpses of nonmarital sexual activity, cohabitation, a prostitution theme, a transvestite character, at least one profanity, a couple of rough terms, occasional crude language. The Catholic News Service classification is A-III — adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 — parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

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