My Review of "Prisoners"

Prisoners is a movie that I've been wanting to check out for a long time. It came out back in 2013. Since then the director Denis Villeneuve has made blockbuster film after blockbuster film. Each one equally as great as the next. I already had high expectations for this movie but I didn't expect to be blown away as I did.

The movie starts off innocently enough. We have two loving friendly families. Each family has two children and their children get along with one another. One fateful thanksgiving night the youngest daughters of each of these respective families go missing.

Of course these devastated families are mortified. One of the fathers, Keller is a bit extra when it comes to protecting his family. He is definitely a survivalist that knows how to hunt trap etc. Keller becomes one of the main characters as he is willing to go the extra mile to find his daughter.

As for the other main character, we have Loki. He's a detective for this case. He's truly dedicated to his craft and shows a lot of passion for his job. He's able to find a possible suspect for the case and in doing so Keller's fixation to this suspect becomes obsession.

This obsession of Keller's often borders and at times crosses the line of morality. You're going to get a lot of those tough questions in this movie. They're asking us how far is too far. I'm sure it would be different if we were in Keller's shoes. He absolutely spirals from a regular loving dad into a crazed man looking for the truth.

In some ways this movie also plays upon our own sensibilities. We tend to underestimate certain people for being dumb or worthless. This movie plays on our own thoughts of each of the characters. It will make you second guess intelligence in others.

As interesting as Keller's story is, Loki's perspective is just as interesting. He's trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together. In some ways he's working with us as the viewers to solve the mystery of this small town. As he learns more about this case he starts to uncover deep secrets about this little town that no one expected.

At all times you are at the edge of your seat trying to find the next clue to this town's mystery. Each little detail becomes a eureka moment and all the while you're worried about the state of Keller as he tries to uncover his truth.

While each secret is revealed to us we have ourselves another invisible character and that's the secret that's going on in the town. I love the way this movie keeps you guessing as to who the culprit might be. This movie will have you running in circles trying to piece everything together and that's a lot of the enjoyment out of this movie.

The Keller story adds a lot of the drama and intensity to keep us inching closer to falling out of our chairs. This movie can get so intense you start feeling guilty for some of the characters. The emotional impact had me experiencing all sorts of emotions throughout the runtime.

Everything is done beautifully and crafted very nicely. My only gripe about this movie was closer to the beginning of the movie. Keller's rage and frustration at times seemed a little outrageous but even I know parents would actually act like this. You have to get used to it in order to truly enjoy this movie.

Overall, I would say that this is a must see movie. The rumblings about this movie are true. It is definitely a piece of storytelling art that you can come back to over and over again. If you liked movies like Sicario, Zodiac or Seven you'll really enjoy this movie. I have to give this movie an 8.5 out of 10. It is intense and gruesome all while not requiring that much violence. This is what storytelling is all about.