Prisoners

What would you do if someone kidnapped your child ? How far would you go ? Would you hurt that person so much even if you have to go to jail ? Prisoners takes this subject seriously, and ever since the premiere, this is one of the favourite movies of this year by movie critics. We have seen many motion pictures in this genre before, but the rumour goes that Prisoners have a different perspective on child abduction. With a great cast including Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Terrence Howard and Melissa Leo, is Prisoners as good as the reviews are saying, or is my own opinion saying something else ?

Keller Dover ( Hugh Jackman ) is having Thanksgiving dinner with his neighbour friend Franklin Birch ( Terence Howard, gathering both families to enjoy good food, and spend time together. Keller´s daughter Anna Dover ( Erin Gerasimovich ) and Franklin´s daughter
Joy Birch ( Kyla Drew Simmons ) ask for permission, if they can go home and play in the Dover family house. Keller agree, but demand that they have to tell Anna´s big brother Ralph Dover ( Dylan Minnette ) to check on her. While the families are having a good time, Keller check if Anna is back. He goes over to their home, and find no one there. Joy is missing also, so police is contacted. Ralph remember seeing a big RV outside the neighbourhood, so police begins to look for the description of how the RV looks like. Detective Loki ( Jake Gyllenhaal ) takes on this case, as he manage to find the missing RV. Inside is a man named Alex Jones. Police begin to search the RV, but nothing is found, no clues to where the children are. Detective Loki begin to interrogation Alex, but get no answers. Keller finds out they have a suspect, so try to find out if he might be guilty. But since there is no evidence, they have to let Alex go. Keller takes justice in his own hands, and kidnap Alex. He locks him up in an old house, torture him to get answers. But while time is running out, and Detective Loki is becoming frustrated about evidence, maybe someone else is behind these crimes ?

Ok, Prisoners is very long. 2 hours and 30 minutes. But you won´t be bored by this, because while watching i can guarantee you will be stuck in your seat. Acting on this level, does not come around very often. Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal both deliver some unforgettable scenes, where they both give us an example, of how you can react when life feels like shit. If you thought the acting is the only good detail in Prisoners, i can tell you that there is so much more too appreciate. The story is very strongly told by director Denis Villeneuve. He have directed a couple of movies in the past, but Prisoners is his big breakthrough in Hollywood, and i have to say this is a very strong motion picture. The tension in the families feels real, the psychological perspective from a parent view feels real. There are so many details here Denis manage to lift up, that you sit there and feel deeply disturbed about the situation. I belive most parents would do anything to get their child back, so this image of the protective parent is very clearly portrayed here by Hugh Jackman. Prisoners is easily one of the best movies this year, I can still not forget some of the scenes, that made such a strong impact on me ( i won´t tell you here, you will have to see for yourself ). I don´t need to explain why, you have to go and see Prisoners in a cinema near you.

Rating: DDDD