Prisoners
All of those horror movies think they know how to shock and scare you,
but they have got nothing on Hugh Jackman’s new movie, Prisoners!
As families across the country are celebrating Thanksgiving, Keller
Dover (Hugh Jackman), Grace Dover (Maria Bello), Franklin Birch
(Terrence Howard), Nancy Birch (Viola Davis) and their families are
about to experience an unthinkable horror. Their two little 6-year old
daughters, Anna (Erin Gerasimovich) and Joy (Kyla Drew Simmons), have
gone missing after taking a very short walk from one house to the
other’s on this quiet, Northeast Pennsylvania street.
Loki (Jake Gyllenhaal) is the young detective who catches the case, but
this one is turning out to be more difficult than any of us could ever
imagine. The prime suspect, Alex Jones (Paul Dano), doesn’t have
any evidence linking him to the crime, and, when the accused man is
released, Keller decides to take matters into his own hands
(Wolverine-style!).
You think you know where this is all going?
You think you got it figured out?
Believe me, you have no idea and just when you think Prisoners
is about to end, IT GETS BETTER!
Director Denis Villenueve and writer Aaron Guzikowski enrapture the
audience with a quietly intense movie that’s part morality tale,
part criminal procedural, part character exploration, and almost 100%
awesome (Howard could step up his game a bit, and Davis deserves more
to do here).
It’s a gut wrenching situation (with some shocking visuals) that
frightens anyone in the audience, whether you have kids or not, but
when Villenueve and Guzikowski start taking us down that twisty turny
road of a plot, you are going to be amazed at every revelation, and be
shocked you have no idea what is happening next.
Sure, the studio is playing up the whole morality aspect of Prisoners,
which gives Jackman his moments to frighten us with his rage and
brutality. It wants to make us question, would you be willing to do the
unthinkable to find your missing daughter? Would you be willing to
disregard the law to protect your family? The entire movie is designed
to have you and everyone you see it with debating the conundrum as you
drive home or grab a cup of coffee after the show.
But, Prisoners is best when it is a mystery.
Alex doesn’t have any evidence linking him to the crime, but
Guzikowski gives us plenty of reason to wonder if he was involved and
the cops are screwing up. As Loki discovers the town’s ugly
hidden history, we have to wonder if it will link to this case. And, do
we have another suspect?
I challenge you to dig through the clues and occurrences to figure what
has happened, but I don’t think you will.
Prisoners is rated R for disturbing violent
content including torture, and language throughout.
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