American Hostage

In Indianapolis in 1977, local radio reporter Fred Heckman (Jon Hamm, Mad Men) enjoys widespread trust from his listening public and respect from his colleagues. He’s even caught the interest of some New York media bigwigs; their job offer is weighing on his mind, spurring him to repeatedly discuss the pros and cons with his wife (Mireille Enos, TIFF ’18’s The Lie). But Heckman’s personal quandaries are suddenly sidelined when the station hears word of a developing story unfolding downtown.

Tony Kiritsis (Giovanni Ribisi, TIFF ’18’s A Million Little Pieces) is a desperate man with a desperate plan: he’s decided that his only available course of action, after being denied an extension on his mortgage payment plan, is to take his broker hostage. Kiritsis begins a stand-off with local police, and one of his earliest demands is a phone call with the most reliable newsman in town: Fred Heckman. The station’s staff and regulators are faced with a series of impossible and novel decisions — can the station ethically air a live interview with a kidnapper? What does the reporter’s duty to the public require him to divulge? Will they be fined into oblivion for airing Kiritsis’ inventive stream of curse words?

Set long before live coverage was available at our fingertips, American Hostage captures the murky boundaries between participant and observer. Adapted from the hit podcast of the same name, and based on real events, this series examines a sensational, national news story that rests on the relationship between a local man and the reporter he trusts to always deliver the truth.

GEOFF MACNAUGHTON

Content advisory: coarse language, mature themes