Prisoners (2013)

Prisoners is a 2013 American thriller film directed by Denis Villeneuve from a screenplay written by Aaron Guzikowski. The film has an ensemble cast including Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Viola Davis, Maria Bello, Terrence Howard, Melissa Leo, and Paul Dano. It was Villeneuve's first English-language feature film and opened in cinemas on September 20, 2013.

Plot
Keller Dover (Hugh Jackman) faces a parent's worst nightmare when his 6-year-old daughter, Anna, and her friend go missing. The only lead is an old motorhome that had been parked on their street. The head of the investigation, Detective Loki (Jake Gyllenhaal), arrests the driver (Paul Dano), but a lack of evidence forces Loki to release his only suspect. Dover, knowing that his daughter's life is at stake, decides that he has no choice but to take matters into his own hands.

Why It Rocks

 * 1) The idea about film of the abduction of two young girls in Pennsylvania and the subsequent search for the suspected abductor by the police is interesting.
 * 2) It provided that Denis Villeneuve has an excellent direction choice of this film and for the first time, it was Denis Villeneuve's first predominantly English-language feature film.
 * 3) Most acting performance are amazing. For example; Hugh Jackman's terrifying, Oscar-worthy performance. This was proof way before Logan that he would make the perfect Joel.
 * 4) The character are rather likable, such as Detective Loki, and Alex.
 * 5) *Speaking of Detective Loki, he has become this amongst fans of the film for his unbreakable will and determination in finding the missing girls no matter how much it destroys him, his eventual success in finding them and taking down the one behind it all, and for his awesome haircut.
 * 6) Many scenes have heartwarming, such as the bad guys kidnaps and kills children so their parents will lose their faith of God. As Dover is left trapped in the hole he continues to pray for his daughter's safety.
 * 7) Well-fitting and amazing cinematography that ends up being nomination at the 86th Academy Awards.
 * 8) The scene where Bob Taylor pointing his stolen gun at himself instead of the cops and shot himself in the head is very intense and disturbing.
 * 9) Parts of the dialogue is very creative and amazingly done, such as "Pray for the best, but prepare for the worst."
 * 10) The film's minimalist score by Jóhann Jóhannsson is quite haunting, especially "The Candlelight Vigil".

Bad Quality

 * 1) Keller Dover can be unlikable where he tortures Alex.

Reception
Prisoners receiving universal acclaim by critics and audiences. On review aggregator web site Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 81% based on 250 reviews, with a rating average of 7.27/10. The website's critical consensus states: "Prisoners has an emotional complexity and a sense of dread that makes for absorbing (and disturbing) viewing.". On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 70 out of 100, based on 53 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore initially gave the film a grade "B+" on an A+ to F scale, but Warner Bros asked for a recount by the service and later said the film received a grade "A–".

Along with Gravity, Prisoners was considered the best movies of 2013.

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Trivia

 * Aaron Guzikowski wrote the script based on a short story he wrote, partially inspired by Edgar Allan Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart", involving "a father whose kid was struck by a hit and run driver and then puts this guy in a well in his backyard". After he wrote the spec, many actors and directors entered and exited the project, including actors Christian Bale and Leonardo DiCaprio and directors Antoine Fuqua and Bryan Singer.
 * It was originally rated NC-17 by the MPAA for substantial disturbing violent content and explicit images; after being edited, it was re-rated R for disturbing violent content including torture, and language throughout.