The Captive

The Captive (El cautivo, 2025) — watch online on iFILM. Spanish-Italian historical drama from director Alejandro Amenábar, starring Julio Peña as the young Miguel de Cervantes. The story opens in September 1575, when Barbary pirates seize Cervantes on the sea route from Naples and drag him to Algiers. His family has no money for the ransom.

Hassan Pasha — played by Alessandro Borghi — runs a brutal operation with thousands of captives. Cervantes spends years waiting for a rescue that keeps not coming. To keep his mind intact, he tells stories. Then he starts plotting an escape. The 134-minute film traces exactly how captivity turned a soldier into the writer who would later create Don Quixote. Stream The Captive (2025) in full on iFILM.