Prisoners (2013)

When the unthinkable happens to your flesh and blood

By: JWBM

Years back I used to stay up late to watch "Cold Case Files" and other similar shows about finding a killer after a real-life senseless act. It was never a good idea. The stories often stuck with you, even into the next day. A characteristic trait of these tales, is the search for the truth is often a pull and tug into different directions. Sometimes one path leads to a dead end, other times it leads to the right path—one with a resolution of sorts that is never easy, and one that often doesn't make it any better or make sense to someone with a conscience. Detectives and personnel look as if they're just doing their job compared to the distraught, all-tears loved ones. But after studying and dealing with so many horrific cases, some professionals come to the realization that emotions can blind us; can make us obsessive; can make us convinced about something that may or may not be there. Another thing that rings true, is emotions can bring us together, but also tear us apart in as little time as it took for said act to happen.

It's every parent's worst nightmare. The room is too quiet. You call out your child's name. Silence. You look everywhere. Nothing. It's tragedy in its purist form. All of those plans, dreams, and aspirations are frozen in time. Adults are sprinkled with choices and have ample opportunity to unlock different pathways throughout their lifetime. When something happens to our own flesh and blood—a little one no less—it can bring about deep emotions that would tear just about anyone apart. That is with the exception of a certain breed of predator. Someone whom you will never understand; someone whom you will never firmly step into their shoes. How do you find a monster? Become one yourself? To toss away reason, and replace it with a hurried, fractured logic that makes sense in the now but may be full of regret later. To fully do so, would be to transform oneself and toss away the remaining humanity inside of yourself and replace it with a determination that's as black as the corrupted soul that took said innocent one. Do you have it in you? Should you have it in you?

Two girls during low-key Thanksgiving festivities end up missing with few clues to go on. Dad goes into full protective mode to find them; mom goes full comatose from all the unanswered hows and whys swirling in her head; detective turns over every stone to find them. You've seen this type of drama-thriller before. An exceptional, callous thing happens, a few creepy scenes occur to get under your skin, and eventually the final revelation and resolution of it all is wrapped up into another fava-beans-and-Chianti package. Well, not exactly here. "Prisoners" feels less slick, more moment by moment, more centered on resonating emotions than surface thrills, and more like the characters could be your neighbors and this your neighborhood. It's still gripping and engaging, though it still doesn't feel like your typical cinematic experience for the first half in how it lays one brick at a time to build its story. Take the music for instance. It's all about those menacing tones, than it is about creating a soundtrack to hum on a road-trip. It's like the director wanted to explore complex human emotions to stick with the viewer over just a focus on being aesthetically pleasing.

Another mode to this film that I thought was brilliant is how the characters are tied together with a common theme. When something out of the ordinary happens to us as humans, there are many that attempt to hide their bruised egos. We become afraid to ask for just a simple thing: Help. A share of problems would be solved if we swallowed our pride and reached out to ask for a hand. Especially to someone whom we should ask for help. It's a strange but common set of circumstances that I feel the writer nailed with this story. It's finely layered in how it's done—enough that it didn't hit me till after the fact when I was piecing it all together. I haven't seen too many other films that weave it into their story as well as this did.

As much as "Prisoners" delved into and examined the emotional turmoil of this event, it also wrapped up its loose ends in a rather quick dust of the hands. The movie does have some heartfelt soul to walk away with though. It's not an easy watch—some portions are downright uncomfortable—but it's acted and portrayed well for this harrowing subject not everyone wants to outright talk about. I mean, unless you're John Walsh, or someone like me who wants to examine the more challenging things of this strange and sometimes cruel world.

Rating: 8.5/10

Director: Denis Villeneuve (Maelstrom, Polytechnique, Incendies)
Starring: Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Viola Davis, Maria Bello, Terrence Howard
Info: IMDB
Trailer: Youtube