Prisoners Review - Chosen film

Prisoners is a 2013 American thriller film directed by Denis Villenueve and written by Aaron Guzikowski. The film runs for 153 minutes and had a budget of £28 million it went on to make £76 million in the box office. The plot focuses on the abduction of two young girls in Pennsylvania and the subsequent search. Keller Dover (Hugh Jackman) and Grace Dover (Maria Bello) go to their friend’s; Franklin Birch (Terrence Howard) and Nancy Birch’s (Viola Davis) house for a thanksgiving dinner. The families' six year old daughters, Anna Dover (Erin Gerasimovich) and Joy Birch (Kyla Drew Simmons), go for a walk outside with their older siblings, Ralph Dover (Dylan Minnette) and Eliza Birch (Zoe Borde). The children have to be forcefully pulled away from a parked RV by their siblings when they start climbing on it. After dinner, the younger daughters leave to go back to Anna's house to get her safety whistle she is supposed to carry at all times, but they never come back. Detective Loki (Jake Gyllenhaal) is on the case but is having a difficult time solving it when he has to look out for Keller as well. Keller captures and imprisons the man he thinks is responsible Alex (Paul Dano), intent on beating him until he breaks – that’s a good thing, because the final product is a trip into darkness that makes even extreme vigilantism the least shocking element of its twisted story. The film was nominated for an Academy award for the best cinematography.

Prisoners is a complex story well told.  It’s gritty, violent and even nauseating at times.  It asks the tough questions and the answers don’t necessarily add up to happily ever after.  The torture scenes are difficult to watch.  The performances are strong.  And, the ending is as intense as it obscure.

The film’s title obviously refers to the young captives the two girls and the troubled Alex but it also extends to those who find themselves prisoners to their grief and guilt, and their subsequent choices and actions. None more so than Keller. Jackman delivers a searing turn as the proud father driven by a potent mix of rage, righteousness and love for his daughter, but who also seems to be dangerously spurred on by his own feelings of inadequacy. At one point even Keller himself becomes a prisoner.

 

Prisoners works as a superb, complex, edge-of-your-seat thriller. Roger Deakins’ cinematography is brooding and precise, while Villeneuve allows the plot twists to multiply and the tension to mount with expert discipline. The action did not speed up to join most of Hollywood thrillers, instead the filmmaker’s focus remains on mood and meaning, and he allows time to press down on us, just as it’s pressing down on each character in the film. We feel the heavy and unsettling passing of each day that the girls aren’t found and Alex remains in captivity. With a two-and-a-half-hour running time, it’s an emotionally exhausting journey, but it’s also riveting and wholly consuming. Some may accuse the film of exploitation, but this is a bold, brave and unforgettable piece of filmmaking that pulls you deep into the mix and doesn’t let go. No one escapes Prisoners unscathed, including the audience.

I enjoyed everything about the film. Especially the ending, it was superb you hear nothing but a quiet whistle then it leaves you on a cliff hanger, wondering what happened next. I thought it was great how all the little pieces of the film link together, like who the two accused men really are and how a past newspaper article links to them, even how a drawing of a maze was the key to finding out who the guilty party was. I would recommend this film to anyone.