Director: Denis Villeneuve
Year: 2013
Stars: Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Terrence Howard
Prisoners is an extremely grim movie about the abduction of two young girls and then the aftermath as everyone deals with it in different ways. One girl’s mother played by Maria Bello chugs down sleeping pills and stays in bed while her husband (Hugh Jackman) decides to take matters into his own hands. It’s a movie that gets its inspiration from European TV and is all the better for it.
More specifically the movie is heavily influenced by modern Scandinavian thrillers. It channels the excellent Danish television drama The Killing (or Forbrysden if you’re Danish or pretentious) so much you keep expecting some awful knitwear to appear. It’s so Scandinavian you can almost smell the minimalist furniture and hot girls. What I’m saying is – It’s really Scandinavian.
The film tries to do alot leaving it feeling unfocussed. We get a good police procedural drama, a portrayal of parental grief, and most troubling of all a story strand that dissects the ethics of torture. The whole torture issue is pretty heavy handed and bogs the film down but it seems the makers feel it’s what sets it apart from similar types of movies.
It’s a little bit Mystic River, a whole big bit of The Killing, and overall works as a gripping missing kids drama. The performances are excellent all round, with Jackman and Gyllenhaal standing out, the cinematography gives beauty to really shitty weather and the script is pretty good. You won’t find much humour in it so be prepared for a rough ride that is better as a whodunnit rather than a political statement.
Prisoners is close to an 8 out of 10 but I stepped in dog crap on my way home from it which soured the whole experience. If you can avoid street feces then you’ll get a lot from the film.
7/10
Screenkicker Quality Index
BEST
The Prisoner
Prisoners
Screenkicker! 
Can I have my killing boxset back please? I’ll give you queer as folk back- I didn’t like really it.
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Aww I thought you’d like it? Its got that guy you fancy in it
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Still need to check this one out, may do so cause of this awesome review! Great work!
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Thanks Joseph! Glad you liked it 🙂
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I loooooved this film. Gave it an A in my review. It had its flaws, but it was one of the best dramas I’d seen in a while.
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I really enjoyed it too. Enjoyed maybe isn’t the best word considering the subject matter!
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Dog shit always ruins things. Always.
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Especially sex
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Still haven’t seen this.
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Oh great review dude, you had me in stitches at the end with that bit about the dog shit. Excellent!
And honestly, if anyone was expecting humour from this movie then they should go stick a fork in an electrical outlet because they need to correct their wiring somehow.
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You should have seen my face, I was visibly upset by the dog shit. Ruined my weekend!
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Lol! Nice review. You liked this more than I did (I think?). I was a bit disappointed. And I didn’t even step in dog shit! And I love Scandinavian hot girls and minimalist furniture!
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It wasn’t amazing but it passed the time. The dog shit incident still gives me nightmares!
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Dog shit…. And CLOWNS! 😉
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We really should write a horror story together!
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Haha. It would be EPIC! Can Chris Hemsworth star? I’m planning on some male nude scenes…
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Sorry Hemsworth is busy but I’ll fill in for him in the nude scenes – I’ve always dreamt of having a small part in a film
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Bwahaha! Nice. 😉
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Great review!
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Thanks! Just had a look at your site and I love the way it’s laid out. You’ve done so many reviews so it’ll take me a while to go through them!
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Understood. I see a lot of movies. 😉
Feel free to share your thoughts on any reviews you read.
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It’s a wonderful cast that really lays it all down on the line, helping the story move along at a good pace. Problem is, they can’t help but succumb to the conventions of that final act. Good review Mikey.
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