Prisoners: An Excruciatingly Great Thriller

During the first half of Prisoners, I considered stopping the movie about five times and just reading the Wikipedia synopsis to find out how it ended. The first half contains all the basic plot points from the trailer and makes you think the movie is just a morality play that won't achieve any resolution. Thankfully, I persevered and discovered that the second half kicks into overdrive with a thrilling race against time, several plot twists, and a powerful conclusion. You'll be nauseous with dread as you watch, but will heave a sigh of relief at the end. Well, mostly.

The plot concerns the abduction of two young girls in Pennsylvania during Thanksgiving. The movie focuses on how their parents react to this event, as well as the police investigation conducted by Detective David Loki (Jake Gyllenhaal). One of the main suspects is Alex Jones (Paul Dano), who was parked in an RV in the neighborhood and saw the girls earlier in the day. The police track him down and question him, but he has the IQ of a ten-year old and is released back into his aunt's custody due to insufficient evidence. However, Keller Dover (Hugh Jackman), the father of one of the abducted girls, is convinced Jones knows where the girls are, and proceeds to abduct and torture him for information.

That is the first half of the movie in a nutshell. It sets the scene, builds gradually, and then turns to a rather sickening series of torture scenes where Dover unleashes all his rage and desperation on the man who could help him find his daughter before it's too late. Hugh Jackman has never been more terrifying on screen and that was the point at which I wanted to turn the movie off. He deserves kudos for the raw emotion he displays on screen, but he certainly does not make this an easy movie to watch. 

However, if you get past Keller Dover's horrifying quest for justice, the movie swivels to Detective Loki's investigation, and that's when things get interesting. New suspects comes forward, clues and red herrings are discovered and suddenly, all the disparate elements come together with startling clarity. It's a perfect mystery story: all the clues are there if you know where to look. Writer Aaron Guzikowski has done a marvelous job of weaving all the elements together, and director Denis Villeneuve delivers a movie that is both anxiety-provoking and satisfying. You'll be on the edge of your seat throughout the second half and you won't know what to expect next.

Prisoners requires your patience, but it's worth it. Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Paul Dano deliver riveting performances that make you question their characters' motivations until the very end. Denis Villeneuve has created a visceral, disturbing thriller that affects you both physically and psychologically. It is a powerful and complicated movie-watching experience - I heartily recommend it.