Prisoners (2013) Review

 

Prisoners (2013)

Prisoners follows Keller, who’s worst nightmare as a parent is realized when his and a friends daughters are kidnapped, sending them down a dark path to do whatever it takes to get them back.

If you’ve ever seen Zodiac, there’s a scene where Robert comes to face to face with the possible killer on accident while searching for clues. There’s a gut wrenching tenseness and doom that lingers with you for a long time in that scene. That is how the entirety of this film feels, making it one of the most darkly thrilling and hard to watch movies I’ve ever had the pleasure of watching. That’s mainly due to the circumstances of a double child abduction in broad daylight and the lack of a clear suspect for most of the movie. The involvement of kids in dark material like this is pretty taboo in cinema, but it drives the story to heavy and raw places that make it just so good. The mystery and misdirection of suspects is top notch, constantly throwing wrenches in the investigation that alone, mean nothing, but together complete the puzzle and contribute to the bleak, hopeless ending of the film. Its grim look at torture definitely leaves you questioning your own morality, especially in knowing the kid Keller & Frank torture is innocent to some degree.

The cast here is stellar, featuring Melissa Leo, David Dastmalchian, Paul Dano, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Hugh Jackman. Dano is so terrifying but so pathetic throughout that even with the end’s revelation, part of you wants him to suffer for his twisted portrayal. And it’s no surprise, but Hugh Jackman is shockingly violent and disturbing as a distraught father who will stop at nothing to find his daughter. He is so powerful and it’s easily one of his best roles ever in its’ raw tenacity.

Directed by Denis Villeneuve, Prisoners is one of those rare, deeply moving thrillers of the 21st Century that is unmatched in it’s cinematic brilliance and extremely dark subject matter that leaves a nasty pit in your stomach for its’ entirely. It’s fear and horror personified, using clever misdirections and subtle clues to leave you tense and on edge, especially with it’s ambiguously bleak ending.

10/10