Charles Mudede wrote in anticipation of this film: "One of two stars to emerge from Barry Jenkins's 2016 film Moonlight is Ashton Sanders—the other being, of course, Mahershala Ali. Sanders, who is 23, has a face that communicates the struggle of a soul that is continually torn between rage and submission. It is this quality that gave the final classroom scene (attacking a bully) in Moonlight its electrifying power. In Captive State, directed by Rupert Wyatt (Rise of the Planet of the Apes), Sanders plays a young man who is considering joining a resistance movement against an alien power that rules in the United States in much the same way that the Trump administration does: with lies." Unfortunately, according to critical reviews, the movie is "a mess."