Director: Denis Villeneuve
Starring: Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Viola Davis, Maria Bello, Terrence Howard, Melissa Leo, Paul Dano
Certificate: 15
Running Time: 153 minutes
Extras: Featurettes: Every Moment Matters & Powerful Performances
PRISONERS doesn’t hang around to drag us deep into this dark, psychological thriller after it opens with a welcoming Thanksgiving dinner in an ordinary American town. Director Denis Villenueve offers little time for character background before it delves inside the consciousness of an impressive and haunting character-driven story, written by newcomer Aaron Guzikowski. Before you worry, and despite the horrific subject matter of child abduction, PRISONERS is a bracing escape from the usual because we end up exploring those quintessential questions that make us look into the decisions we make alongside the morality of those choices.
After Keller Dover’s (Hugh Jackman) six-year old daughter Anna disappears with her best friend, his family starts to fall apart and, quite understandably, so does his grip on faith and reality. The police initially believe that Paul Dano’s tortured and simple-soul Alex Jones may have taken the two young girls but with no evidence, the suspect is let go. However, Keller doesn’t believe they’ve made the right choice and so, to put this very lightly, takes matters into his own hands. What follows then switches between shocking and intense, with Hugh Jackman’s character being pushed to limits beyond what he expected and completely depicts the tasks of an obsessed, desperate man.
Alongside Jackman is Jake Gyllenhaal’s Detective Loki, a man assigned to the case with a flawless record. But where Keller is uncontrollable in his fear, Loki is focused and determined to track down the children and find out who abducted them with Gyllenhall also impeccable. For a man we don’t know much about, he gives us little pieces of a man with a mysterious history but yet enough to understand his goals. There are also great co-starring roles for Maria Bello, Viola Davis, Terrence Howard and Melissa Leo – who equally add to every moment and the story development.
Villenueve’s PRISONERS is captivating work by all involved and holds the hallmarks of an absolute cult-classic in this genre. What’s also interesting is that it doesn’t fall towards stereotypes. Many similar narratives might place emphasis towards media frenzy, yet PRISONERS decides to look at the people involved and the limits we would all be pushed to. This intense thriller has an incredibly powerful, captivating narrative that investigates the very essence of being pushed to the edge of paranoia and desperation.
[usr=4] PRISONERS is released on Blu-ray and DVD on February 3rd.
