It is a happy Thanksgiving with two close families celebrating the holiday together until the two youngest girls, Joy and Anna, ask to go play outside. Finding an RV, the two girls begin to play on it before they disappear. The frantic parents and one determined detective, who solves all of his cases, begin the search for these two girls, but the more time that passes, the less likely the girls will be found alive.
Anna’s father, Keller Dover (Hugh Jackman) will go to any length to find his daughter, even if it means he will end up in jail. When searching for the girls, Detective Loki (Jake Gyllenhaal) finds the body of a man who supposedly has kidnapped children before and a different man who is obsessed with mazes, but how is it all connected?
The story centers on Dover and Loki, but the audience gets a broad view of both families and the other characters, as well. All the actors did an incredible job embodying their characters.
They didn’t seem like actors, but rather, they seemed like people who were actually experiencing these events.
Gyllenhaal is a great cop who keeps his cool most of time, but when frustrated and invested with the case, he becomes emotional and makes some fatal mistakes. No matter what, though, he is dedicated to finding the girls.
Alex Jones (Paul Dano) becomes the first suspect in the case. The girls are last seen playing on his RV, which disappears right after them. The problem is, though, that he has the IQ of a 10 year old.
When the detective goes to Jones’ house, he discovers that he lives with his aunt (Melissa Leo) who is also just a little off. Leo is amazing in her role as the faithful aunt who lost her son and husband.
When Jones is released, Dover is still convinced that he is the man that took his daughter. Using drastic measures, he is determined to go to any extent to find out what happened to the girls.
Franklin Birch (Terrence Howard), Joy’s father, becomes conflicted between the desire to find his daughter and not let his friend go off the deep end to get them back. Howard displayed this conflict flawlessly; both he and Jackman were the perfect example of grieving fathers who would do anything for their children.
“Prisoners” is a puzzle for the audience to figure out as they watch along with the characters, but if you pay close attention, you can find clues and discover who the culprit is before the movie reveals it. Dozens of people enter into the suspect pool, but when you think its one person, suddenly it turns out you were wrong and the suspect becomes another person.
If you are looking for a happy feel good movie, then this is the wrong movie to go see. Although, the audience does not see all that the girls go through, there are still graphic scenes involving the parents and the horror that they go through to find their daughters.
This movie receives four stars from me. Although, the acting was fabulous, there was an excess of offensive language when it was not necessary, and the movie lagged in some parts where there could have been more action.
This is a movie that needs to be watched multiple times in order for the audience to completely grasp everything that happens and all the little connections between things.
If you have seen the trailer: do not worry, it does not even give half the plot line away because the movie goes much deeper than what is originally presented.
Even with these faults, I still highly recommend this movie as an exciting puzzle and thriller.
