Bring her hoooooome

Prisoners

Director: Denis Villeneuve

Writer: Aaron Guzikowski

Starring: Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Maria Bello, Terrence Howard, Viola Davis, Paul Dano, Melissa Leo

Runtime: 153 minutes

Certification: 15

What kind of demons can parents really turn into when something happens to their children? According to Prisoners, Denis Villeneuve’s new gritty, dark, and twisty thriller, anyone pushed to the limit can be capable of pretty much anything - which sends quite the chilling, disturbing message at the end of its lengthy 153-minute running time. The eternal question of “What are we really capable of in desperate circumstances?” is explored here, as a number of characters are thrown into impossible situations.

It was supposed to be an ordinary Thanksgiving dinner for the Dover and Birch families. Keller (Jackman), Grace (Bello), Franklin (Howard) and Nancy (Davis) are friends who get together for the annual celebration with their children. However when their daughters disappear, it sends everyone into panic, then despair, as everyone unravels at the thought of the worst case scenario.

An obvious suspect is immediately apprehended, a mentally stunted young man (Dano) who cannot be interrogated fully due to his lack of general understanding. Keller, not satisfied with the limits of the law, decides to take matters into his own hands, starting with kidnapping, then imprisoning, swiftly moving to violence and torture. The cold, grey setting certainly help set the tone of what is to come, and what follows matches up with the bleak build-up.

In what must be the best performance of his career so far, Jackman shines in the lead as a regular family man gone wrong - as darkness takes over, his presence becomes more and more gripping by the frame, and if he could score an Oscar nomination with Les Mis, he certainly deserves one for his work here.

Equally effective is the rest of the cast: Gyllenhaal, the fiery and determined detective who tries to keep a clear perspective of what’s legal and what’s not, Bello, Jackman’s quietly grieving wife who looks sleep- deprived, Howard, one of the other fathers who reluctantly gets roped into Keller’s extreme methods, Davis, his steely wife who encourages her husband to look the other way when it comes to what needs to be done, Dano, ambiguous in the centre of the did-he- or-didn’t-he mystery, and Leo, as an elderly lady who knows more than she lets on.

The plot becomes more and more complicated as it goes on, and it’s a shame the credibility of it all soon drops along with it. The final reveal is one that shocks but perhaps not quite fully explains.

It’s not an easy film to watch by any means, and the film isn’t afraid to show some of the frank brutality displayed by the characters, but this is one that will linger in the mind and spark debates. “What would you do?”, “What do they deserve?” will be interesting questions to answer after the credits start rolling.