Starring: Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Terrence Howard, Viola Davis
Director: Denis Villeneuve
Rated: R
On a rainy and dreary Thanksgiving in suburban Pennsylvania, 2 young girls vanish without a trace. When the cops let the prime suspect go, distraught father Keller Dover (Hugh Jackman) no longer content to leave his daughters rescue and life in the hands of the police lead by Detective Loki(Jake Gyllenhaal). Dover decides to take the law into his own hands, abducting the prime suspect Alex Jones, (A perfectly cast Paul Dano who is so good he will most likely forever be known as the creepy guy from Prisoners). Holding Jones hostage and torturing him to reveal the location of his daughter.
Prisoners deals with some pretty gritty material, primarily child abduction, torture and how far will you go to protect those you love. Dover’s utilization of torture, while fundamentally basic makes getting waterboarded seem like a walk in the park. Dover brings in friend and father of the other kinapped girl Franklin Birch (Terrance Howard). Birch is the much softer of the two providing a bit of a moral compass as the reluctant to go along with the plan father. Birch initially questions the actions lamenting “What in the world did you do” when Dover quickly replies “Someone has to make him talk, or they’re gonna die.) it’s not tough to figure out who of the two has the resolve to do what it takes.
On the other side you have Loki a twitchy faced Gyllenhaal the lone detective on the case. For some reason Loki has no partner, He is a one man show, decked out with knuckle and neck tats and a dress shirt buttoned all the way to the top, he embraces his inner cholo. I am sure Loki has an interesting back story yet none is given aside from a remark about growing up in a boys home.
Not since Se7en has there been a thriller covering such rain soaked dark material. There is a constant seed of doubt as to whether Jones is the abductor or if Dover is just hearing and seeing what he wants to hear. It’s an exceptionally bleak thriller with an unexpected swerve ending. It’s also the type of film that is hard to divulge to many details without spoiling the plot twists. A Superbly satisfying, white knuckle thriller with the best ending to a film in recent memory.
Grade -90
Possible spoiler, The only real point of contention I had was that it took far too long for Loki to put the pieces together. I wanted to scream at him through the screen to look at the dead guy’s necklace. I understand I have a keen eye for detail but this was a bit too obvious.
