Trauma and Shock Expressed Through Sounds and Visuals

Rating: 10/10 (29 May 2019)

Prisoners is a gritty and disturbing tale of a father looking for his kidnapped daughter and her friend who will do anything to get her back no matter what while a detective follows leads and searches elsewhere. While the premise may sound like something out of the Taken franchise, the films could not be more different. Prisoners is bleak, nihilistic and grounded in reality. Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal give shocking performances as the two people leading the search for the girls with the pressure and the anxiety of their task seeping through their performances. Denis Villeneuve combines his talents as a director with the greatest cinematographer of all time Roger Deakins to create beautiful yet haunting shots throughout the film. The imagery is powerful and combined with the distressing story it can lead to some truly shocking moments with a moment in particular when a revelation about the girls is discovered gives me shivers every time I watch it. The score pounds, the colors turn grey and the fear and trauma of the characters can be felt and it's as if out of a horror movie. Not to even mention the incredible final act. The film is well paced and wastes no time from its two and a half hour run time making every second of the film count in the search for the girls. Prisoners is not for the lighthearted and can be quite distressing for even the most hardened viewer but it is a remarkable and haunting film that will leave you thinking after the credits roll.