Abduction (2011)
12-month trend
12-month trend
Monthly article views
2025-09 to 2026-08
A teenager discovers he is the target of a high-stakes international conspiracy after finding a photo of himself on a missing persons website.
The story
Nathan Harper, an 18-year-old high school senior in the suburbs of Pittsburgh, is troubled by recurring nightmares and seeks treatment from a psychiatrist. While working on a school project about missing children, he discovers his resemblance to a missing child, Steven Price. His investigation reveals that he may not be biologically related to his parents. After his parents are murdered by two mysterious men, Nathan is forced to go on the run. He teams up with a classmate, Karen Murphy, and seeks help from a former CIA operative to uncover the truth about his identity and the danger he faces.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Nathan Harper, an 18-year-old high school senior in Pittsburgh, discovers he is not biologically related to his adoptive parents after finding his resemblance to a missing child on a website. After his parents are murdered by men from the Bridgewater Juvenile Justice Department, Nathan and his classmate Karen Murphy flee. They are aided by Dr. Bennett, a former CIA operative, and Frank Burton, a CIA agent. Burton reveals that Nathan's biological father, Martin Price, stole a list of 25 corrupt CIA operatives from a Serbian broker, Nikola Kozlow, who planned to abduct Nathan to coerce Martin. Nathan and Karen travel to Nebraska to find Nathan's biological mother, Lorna Price, only to find she is deceased. During their journey, Karen is kidnapped by Kozlow's henchman but is eventually rescued by Nathan. Kozlow threatens to kill Karen's parents unless Nathan hands over the data. A confrontation occurs at PNC Park during a Pittsburgh Pirates game. During the standoff, Martin Price appears and kills Kozlow. Martin then takes the data and disappears, leaving Nathan and Karen safe. Nathan eventually begins living with Dr. Bennett.
- First release year
- 2011
- Runtime (minutes)
- 105
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- John Singleton
- Writers
- Shawn Christensen · writer
- Cast and characters
- Taylor Lautner · Nathan Harper; Lily Collins · Karen Murphy; Alfred Molina · Martin Price; Jason Isaacs · Frank Burton; Maria Bello · Mara; Sigourney Weaver · Geri Bennett
- Genres
- action thriller; mystery thriller; political action; political thriller; crime action; crime mystery
- Themes
- Identity; Conspiracy; Family Secrets; Kidnapping
- Tone and mood
- Action-packed; Suspenseful; Tense
- Setting
- Suburbs of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and various locations including Arlington, Virginia, Nebraska, and a baseball stadium.
- Premise and plot tags
- Kidnapping; Missing People; CIA Conspiracy; Teen Thriller
- Reception
- The film received generally unfavorable reviews from critics, with a 5% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a weighted average score of 25 on Metacritic. Audiences gave it a 'B−' grade on CinemaScore.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 3.3/10 · scale: 10 · review count: 106; Metacritic · score: 25 · scale: 100 · review count: 20
- Awards and nominations
- Golden Raspberry Award · Worst Actor · 2012 · Nominated; Teen Choice Awards · Choice Action Actor · 2012 · Won; Golden Trailer Awards · Best Standee for Feature Film · 2012 · Nominated; Golden Reel Awards · Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing – Dialogue and ADR for Feature Film · 2011 · Nominated
- Production trivia
- John Singleton directed Abduction as his final film before his death in 2019.; The film was shot in the Pittsburgh area to take advantage of Pennsylvania's tax credit program.; The school name and mascot, the Talbot, appeared in the film.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
Your lists
Loading your lists…