Box office According to the Korea Film Council's integrated computer network data, the film ranked number 1 at the Korean box office by recording 97,097 audience on its opening day. Maintaining its top position at Korean box office for the second third and fourth day, it recorded 1 million cumulative audiences on 10h day of its release, thereby becoming the 3rd Korean film of 2021 to cross 1 million mark. it is at 3rd place among all the Korean films released in the year 2021, with gross of US$13.07 million and 1,638,437 admissions. Kim Mi-hwa reviewing for
Star News wrote that the film is from a new genre of 'reality action' setting where the main actor is acting himself. Praising the direction of Phil Gam-seong, she said, "Even though it is a feature film by a new director, it does not stop breathing and boasts a smooth flow." Praising the performance of Hwang Jung-min in reality action setting, Mi-hwa opined, "As Hwang Jung-min said, if you watch the movie, you will find yourself cheering for him." She concluded, "Just seeing the discovery of new actors is enough reason to watch
Hostage: Missing Celebrity." Kim Ji-won of
Ten Asia opened the review writing, "The movie
Hostage: Missing Celebrity took the reality of 'acting veteran Hwang Jung-min' as the setting of the movie. Realism and fiction are properly blended to bring out a high level of immersion." Ji-won praised the performance of new actors and opined that this ensemble as hostage-takers has added to the sublimity of the film. Analysing the depth of reality and fiction in the reality-action film, she wrote that narrative of the film was well ordered and Hwang Jung-min's acting kept the watchers engrossed in the film. She wrote, "It [the film] also has the virtues of an entertainment movie with unrefined realistic action scenes and quick control through appropriate screen transitions." Park Jeong-seon of
JTBC wrote that the reality-action of the film made it appealing and kept the audience engrossed. She gave credit of this to director Phil Gam-seong and opined, "The realistic direction of director also played a big part in this reality." She praised the performance of lead actor and the cast of new actors, as she wrote, "Although they are newcomers who are still unfamiliar with the screen, they each do their job well." Park opined that though the production cost of the film is just about 8 billion won, still "[..] the best possible content was created." Park concluded, "It is a wise film that is well suited to current theaters and audiences." ==Awards and nominations==