Prisoners

What a riveting movie. This movie pretty much from start to finish is just such a gripping and engaging film despite its difficult subject matter. It’s a very brutal watch at times for sure. That’s one thing I can credit to Denis Villeneuve, he was able to capture such a hopeless and dark feeling with this movie. It feels so dirty and gritty, but it adds so much to the story. Another big contributor to how hard hitting this film is in the performances. Every single performance here is phenomenal. Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Paul Dano, and David Dastmalchian in particular all do so amazing. Oscar worthy performers. They bring so much realism to the film. The character that Hugh Jackman plays in particular is a standout because he is kind of our main character in a way, yet he is not a good person by any means. But what he goes through, it makes the audience ask themselves some difficult questions and reflect.  Despite the film being so dark in tone, it’s actually so beautifully shot. Prisoners is such a good looking film, the framing of shots it’s beautiful. The aspect ratio also plays a role into the wonderful cinematography. The film has this constant rainy/moody vibe to it that really captures the tone. The film is clocked in around two and a half hours, yet it moves along pretty much effortlessly. It has a constant swift pacing and slowly unfolds the story bit by bit. It’s actually really impressive what Villeneuve was able to do here by keeping the audience so engaged.  I really can’t think of anything substantially wrong with the film, or even really anything of moderate value.