When It Comes to Holding "Prisoners", Emotions Can Be Stronger Than Iron Bars

Rating: 8/10 (22 October 2013)

The movie "Prisoners" simply starts with two families, the Dovers and the Birches, in a nondescript town, sharing a Thanksgiving dinner. Then the two youngest members of both families, Anna Dover (Erin Gerasimovich) and Joy Birch (Kyla Drew Simmons) go to play outside supposedly under Anna's older brother Ralph's supervision. They get close to a next-door neighbor's RV, but quickly leave when a pair of ominous eyes stare at them from inside. Soon after, both nine-year old girls are missing and apparently kidnapped. Methodical, persistent Detective Loki (Jake Gyllenhaal), with a perfect case-solving record, strives to find out who abducted the children and why. There are a few suspects, but the most prominent one is Alex Jones (Paul Dano), a child-like young man who lives with caretaker aunt Holly (Melissa Leo) and who is arrested after violently trying to flee Loki and the police in the same RV. So now it's simply a matter of getting Alex to confess to the crime and reveal where the two girls are - isn't it?
Perhaps,it's not so simple. "Prisoners" spins an elaborate, deliberate, and intelligent mystery with its share of clues, red herrings, and frustrating dead ends. But I believe the movie's primary focus IS reflected in its nuanced title and how the characters react to it. Both families, including Grace Dover (Maria Bello), Franklin Birch (Terrence Howard), and Nancy Birch (Viola Davis) are understandably psychologically imprisoned by anxiety, suspense, tension, and horror at their loss - almost to the point of inertia. However, Keller Dover (Hugh Jackman) is not so passive. He is imprisoned by more than just fear; he seethes with vengeance and wrath. He is not satisfied with what he sees as cursory treatment of primary suspect Alex by Loki and the police and is enraged by Alex's release from custody due to insufficient evidence. Insufficient evidence, hell! Keller, a home renovator, has his own ways of making Alex talk...
As the mystery progresses, "Prisoners" takes the time to explore Keller's struggle between justice and revenge and the viewer's attitude toward his actions. As Keller retaliates with his own kidnapping and subsequent torture of Alex, I think many viewers will simultaneously sympathize with and be repelled by Keller's behavior. If we lost a child, of course many of us would rage, and swear, and be spurred to some kind of action. But would we do the things Keller does to Alex, things that begin to border on the sadistic? As it winds toward the kidnapping resolution, the revelation of the culprit, Alex's fate, and, surprisingly, Keller's ironic fate, "Prisoners" reminds us that no situation, even a kidnapping and possible torture, justifies letting ourselves being imprisoned by mindless and perhaps misguided vengeance. In this regard, Detective Loki provides contrast. Even though he gets violently frustrated by the case, Loki's professionalism and logic keep him on course and help him progress in his investigation. Keller does not do the same for most of the movie until it's too late. Like Loki, he learns the truth of the abduction, but his emotional prison may end up leading to a literal one as well.