Prisoners

Prisoners is Denis Villeneuve's 2013 Thriller hit piece. We follow the events after the abduction of two young girls, and the subsequent search for the culprit by the police. After dread and guilt sets in, Keller Dover, the father of one of the daughters, decides to take matters into his own hands, not without the help of intense and obsessive Detective Loki. Villeneuve's direction was pretty great for me. He kept everything tight and controlled, and the heavy, bleak atmosphere fit the story very well. I also liked how the constant rain or cold setting added weight and tension to scenes. The acting was also impeccable: Hugh Jackman as Keller carried the film emotionally, his raw portrayal of desperation made his character and the plot more believable and immersive. He also showed a clear psychological transformation from controlled father to completely unhinged, which was supported by his impressive physical acting, making his morally questionable actions feel understandable. Jake Gyllenhaal also created a great character with Loki, keeping a constant sense of pressure, like the character never switched off. His eye tics, facial expressions, and tone shifts showed just how skilled of an actor he is. His painful restraint contrasted well with Keller, and performed excellently in a rare emotional and caring role. Paul Dano as Alex is another performance worth noting, he was deeply unsettling and made the audience wonder if they should feel for him or not thanks to his skilled ambiguity, using silence and timidness to make a minimal but impactful use of his screentime. However, the physical aspect of the movie still suffered some flaws. The direction lacked memorable or standout moments or scenes, the overall style was very one-sided, the kind of movie you certainly don't remember for its shots after watching. The supporting actors were also well-acted but mildly underused. Overall, there was some potential for better visuals or symbolism that wasn't reached, and I thought the visual side of things was played too safe and basic. The story immediately hooks and worries you, the tension is very effective and keeps you engaged and interested throughout the whole movie. The structure of the investigation with multiple suspects and clues kept the momentum going. Another thing the film also did well was show how the investigation affected each character differently, each dealing with the trauma in their own way. The themes of justice vs mercy, faith and morality when heavily challenged, and parental fear and desperation were all exceedingly intriguing and executed nicely. The title itself held multiple meanings: not only did it obviously link to the children that were held captive, it also applied to Keller and Loki who became prisoners of their own obsession and desperation for a seemingly impossible case. It even showed how Bob Taylor, one of the rare survivors of the child abductions, escaped but still went insane, becoming obsessed with mazes and snakes, and trying to make sense of his own past horrors, only escaping the prison of his past in the end by killing himself. Unfortunately, the movie's plot was way more flawed than I expected. Once everything was said and done, the reveals and ending weren't particularly shocking or unforgettable. There were a surprising amount of plot holes and coincidences like the lack of background checks from Loki which would've ended the story after one hour instead of 2.5, Joy somehow escaping effortlessly and right on time for the narrative, and more. Also, why would a man (Holly's husband) who killed 16 children choose a random priest's house for a confession, and how would that priest keep the man's body in his basement undetected for years? One part that really annoyed me about the story was how, after hours of build-up and reveals, we discover who the actual villain is and she has a genuinely interesting motive, waging a war against God as revenge for killing her son, only for her to be killed cheaply in an action-movie level shootout 5 minutes later. Why would someone who was been capturing and torturing multiple children while completely covering their tracks randomly pull a gun on a cop? Her death felt like a narrative shortcut and a waste of potential for an ending that aligned with her sinister themes. In conclusion, Prisoners is an exceptionally made, thrilling and disturbing piece for the most part thanks to great performances and atmosphere, but has almost 0 rewatch value thanks to uninspired shots, plot holes, and a story that failed to really challenge or stun me as a viewer. Overall Rating: 7/10