Imprisoned by hope

Rating: 8/10 (14 October 2013)

You know from the first Roger Deakins-framed shot of this child abduction drama that you're watching quality. The craft is exquisite – and the thematic and emotional content is equal to it. This is a sophisticated film that consumes material outside the staple multiplex diet: frustration, ambivalence, forgiveness, grief, rage. Prisoners has its contrivances, and a few dubious character actions, but always at the service of telling a gripping story, and asking some challenging questions.
The film opens with the Dover clan, headed by Keller (Hugh Jackman), visiting the Birch family for Thanksgiving dinner. Contentment and complacency abounds. The two youngest kids go outside and don't come back. The dawning horror of the parents, and the rapid escalation in panic, is horribly and heartbreakingly played out. Keller is convinced that the child-minded neighbour Alex (Paul Dano) is the culprit. So when lonesome Detective Loki (Jake Gyllenhaal, practically reprising his role from Zodiac, except now with new End of Watch tattoos) can find no evidence, Keller takes matters – and Alex – into his own bloody hands.
The rain. It hasn't poured so much in a detective thriller since Se7en – and the mood is similarly doom-drenched. There are elements of Silence of the Lambs as well, although Prisoners is a film of subtler autumn shades. It's not as stark and austere as Markus Schleinzer's Michael, but it strikes the same eerie mood, and likewise moves at a pleasingly slow pace.
The performances are excellent. Gyllenhaal's wide eyes seem here to have had their naivety washed out by horror; Loki blinks hard like he's photographing all he sees. As for Keller, we first see him stalking prey. He's a predatory animal, an aggressive protector, and grief will translate into ferociousness. Jackman, a most likable screen presence, must work extra hard to fight off our sympathy. Then there are the wives. Maria Bello's Grace appears passive, but this is simply a reflection of her pragmatic husband's inability to connect with her emotionally. Nancy Birch (Viola Davis, typically intense) stays at her husband's side, gradually becoming dominant, fuelled by the agony of loss and the even worse agony of hope.
There are some truly memorable moments in Prisoners. The scene in which Loki discovers child-sized boxes in the house of a suspect is pure Hitchcock brilliance. Later, his bloody-eyed race through busy traffic is probably the most thrilling car chase of the year – the stakes could not be higher. And the scene involving Keller, a bathroom, and a claw hammer is harrowing on multiple levels: the drama is in the intention.
Prisoners is distressing without being repulsive; moving without being sentimental; thrilling without being exploitative. This is the standard to which all mainstream drama should aspire.