Creepy, well crafted and acted, solid drama

Rating: 7/10 (21 October 2013)

Interesting movie, full of dread and plays with the question of who the prisoners really are. Everyone is pretty good in this. Wolverine bares some claws but really doesn't channel Wolverine, we get to see some more range. Terence Howard was underutilized in a key and understated role that was very well done I thought. The main detective character was the most charismatic but the other characters seemed more real.
There are other similar movies that deal with different elements of this one, such as The Vanishing and The Orphan, neither of which I want to see again though they were very well done. As a parent the idea of a child being abducted with no trace is of course very disturbing and the film makers obviously play that up a bit. Lots of crying and various people coping or failing to cope in various ways.
The scenery is bleak, rainy Midwest or Canada, we get a sense of the cold and grime in these middle class people. The overwhelming flavor of this movie outside of the main plot is the essence of abuse and mental illness. We get lots of doses of that.
As far as this type of genre goes, this one is more hopeful than many, there is little to no gore (one dead body that's been dead for awhile). The movie doesn't work in sharp pokes but one long slow dread buildup and it's pretty good at that.
There is lots of character study here but over all I'd say it's more plot driven than character driven. The ending which I won't spoil seems to make some people think there is ambiguity but I didn't see it that way, seemed pretty clear what was going on at the end.