Netflix's iHostage Details 2022 Amsterdam Hostage Crisis

Netflix's crime thriller 'iHostage,' directed by Bobby Boermans and written by Simon de Waal, dramatizes the February 22, 2022, hostage crisis at an Amsterdam Apple Store. Abdel Rahman Akkad, aged 27 and wearing a fake bomb vest, took a Bulgarian customer hostage and demanded €200 million in cryptocurrency, while dozens of others hid or managed to escape. Police responded rapidly, negotiated with the attacker, and maintained contact with people hiding inside, resolving the standoff after nearly five hours with no hostages harmed. The film depicts the event from the perspectives of the attacker, hostages, and first responders, blending factual accuracy with dramatization and altering names for privacy. Boermans and de Waal drew on personal and police contacts to ensure authenticity. The rarity of such violence in the Netherlands and the high-profile setting contributed to the incident's lasting impact.