How Far Would You Go?

Rating: 10/10 (21 September 2013)

Never has a film of this caliber shaken me and begged me to ask the question, "if my child was taken, how far am I willing to go?"
In Denis Villeneuve's gripping and powerful drama about the abduction of two little girls and the extreme measures one father takes to find his daughter, the film rings in emotions of panic, fear, sadness, horror and shock all wrapped into two and a half hours of tension. Twists and turns drive the action of the story to its dramatic and shocking conclusion.
The casting of the film is beyond brilliant. Hugh Jackman delivers a shocking and powerful performance as Keller Dover, father to one of the missing girls, who is unwilling to sit idly by and wait for the police to find the children. He takes the law swiftly into his own hands by horrifically tortures the young man (Paul Dano) he believes has taken the children; the torture scenes led me to turn away at numerous points of the film. Watching Jackman's performance hits a chord deep inside himself as a parent in real life in addition to the fictional portrayal of the desperate father who will kill to have his daughter back. Even as a viewer, his talent in the role and the intensity it requires tugged at my heartstrings through the painful moments of the impact of the kidnapping to the horror of his actions against Alex Jones (Paul Dano), the tension the events cause in his marriage to his wife Grace (Maria Bello) and seeing him push away anyone who tries to help him (Detective Loki (Jake Gyllenhaal), Franklin and Nancy Birch, parents of the other kidnapped child (Terrence Howard and Viola Davis)). An Oscar-worthy performance here.
Playing opposite Jackman in the desperate search is Detective Loki, superbly played by Jake Gyllenhaal, an officer who has never left a case unsolved. But when he delves into the abduction of these two children, Loki is more than prepared to do everything in his power as a law enforcement officer to bring them home. The conflict between Jackman and Gyllenhaal pulls the viewer back and forth as time grows shorter and the search more desperate, providing insight into the difference between the by-the-book Detective Loki and loose cannon Keller Dover. Only when the final hours are ticking away do we see Gyllenhaal finally crack and break his own rules in order to cement his reputation of efficiency.
If you dare to answer the above question of "how far would I go to get my child back?" PRISONERS will still make you question your own motives.