Prisoners
Director: Denis Villeneuve
Cast: Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Viola Davis
Length: 153 minutes
Country: USA
The time of year following the heated summer season is usually where nothing seems to have significant amount of hype. Some films even end up slipping completely under the radar, only gaining attention until you see the poster gracing the walls of your local multiplex. These are the films with surprising power. These are the films with potency. The ones that pull the rug from under your feet and are the most memorable when it comes to thinking over the films of the year. Prisoners proves to be one of those films; a bleak, disturbing, yet superior thriller.
It’s Thanksgiving, the Dover and the Birch family have come together for dinner. During this day, their respective daughters go missing. As the investigation gets underway, one of the fathers, Keller Dover (Hugh Jackman), begins to become frustrated with the actions being taken by the investigation. After the Chief Detective of the case, Detective Loki (Jake Gyllenhaal) releases a potential suspect (Paul Dano) due to lack of evidence, Keller takes things into his own hands in order to discover the whereabouts of his daughter. The path he chooses will lead him down a dark and morally murky trail, while Detective Loki discovers that there may be more sinister workings going on involving the kidnapping of these two girls. With time not on their side, Keller and Loki find themselves pushed to their limits in order to discover the truth.
What would seem like a thoroughly generic kidnap thriller manages to work outside of the genre confinements to develop a wholly unique thriller. The components are all there for a by the numbers thriller; religious/cult under tones, angry vigilante father, emotionally crippled wife, determined detective, cute missing little girls, so on and so forth. But director Denis Villeneuve manages to orchestrate a film of compelling and shocking power within the confines of the genre conventions. It weaves a fairly subtle allegory of the War on Terror into the proceedings, but the mystery as its centre is strong enough to not allow this allegory to over-shadow the proceedings.
Each rain soaked, grey, dreary frame is laced with utter dread, yet still contains images of bizarre beauty and complexity…
Each rain soaked, grey, dreary frame (shot by a master DP, Roger Deakins) is laced with utter dread, yet still contains images of bizarre beauty and complexity, amounting in a film which is as visually enriching as it is structurally. Villeneuve’s images are only as good as his script, which is a superior piece of genre writing. Despite the film’s 150 minute run time, there is rarely a moment when the pacing slacks or you feel the compulsion to gaze at your watch. There are points which frustrate, particularly when the characters appear to be about five steps behind you, and sure, your rear posterior may feel the wane, but your eyes will be too engrossed with the mystery unfolding on screen for you to care.
Prisoners marks Villeneuve’s first English-language movie (you may be familiar with his previous works: Incendies and Maelstrom), and what a cast the French-Canadian director has managed to assemble for it. Hugh Jackman delivers a performance of ferocity, determination and passion. There are moments where he truly terrifies as the paranoid father who is absolutely hell bent on finding his daughter by any means necessary. Gyllenhaal imbues Loki with strange character ticks that amount in a well-rounded and ambiguous embodiment of law enforcement, but one that is as equally determined and committed as Jackman’s character. The supporting cast have a lot to do in terms of matching the performances from Jackman and Gyllenhaal, but there are impressive names amongst them. Terrence Howard and Viola Davis provide a softer brand of emotion as the other parents who have fallen victim to this kidnapping. Maria Bello is not given a great deal to do in the role of the matriarch to Jackman’s patriarch and barely blips on the performance radar.
Prisoners is quite a hard film to passionately recommend, as it does not leave one with an overt feeling of joy, and it will not warm the cockles of your heart. It is an autumn film in the sense that it is a cold and miserable experience. It is human, raw, emotionally charged and riveting. It is one of the more superior thrillers to come out certainly in the last year. I urge you to see it if only to experience a piece of craftsmanship in a genre which is more than often by-the-numbers. As surprising as it is unforgettable.
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