Like, a prisoner, I was caged in. I couldn't stop watching this film. It was just that darn good.

Rating: 8/10 (9 October 2013)

Keller Dover (Hugh Jackman) is facing every parent's worst nightmare. His six-year-old daughter and her friend is kidnapped. Minutes turn into hours, hours turn to days. Keller turn to Detective Loki (Jake Gyllenhaal) for help. Their only clue, is that RV has been parked on their street, earlier that day by suspect Alex Jones (Paul Dano). While, Detective Loki is looking for evidence that links Alex Jones to the crime, Keller takes the matter in his own hands; how far will this desperate father go to find his missing daughter? Prisoners is one of the best movies of 2013 in my opinion. It's sure to get a few Oscar nominations. I have to say Hugh Jackson deserve to win, if he does. There is a very powerful scene with him talking to Loki in a car, stating out, how his daughter is looking for him to save her, not Loki. You can't help feeling for this character as he goes through an emotional hell storm. He was a man who can only trust himself. He was a survivalist, and somewhat a paranoid. He prides himself on his strength and independence as a man who can make decisions and get things done alone. That is why he did what he did and he went through a great deal of punishment for it. Keller though loses his way, and ends up in a literal pit in the ground, a "hell" as it were. Great use of symbolism. I love the fact that his wife's name is Grace. (Maria Bello). Grace gets more and more lost, as Keller lose more and more of his morals. Basically he has lost the "grace" of God through his actions. There are many scenes initially shot through dirty glass that was pretty interesting. Nobody in this film was the clear cut good guy and villain. Remind me of the verse 'Through a glass, darkly' in the Bible. Then, there is the many crosses, including one hanging from the rear-view mirror in Keller's truck. The symbolism doesn't get in the way of the plot, too much until the snakes came into play. I guess, it was a play on the serpent in the Garden of Eden, but it also could had meant the Norse symbol for the god Loki which is two entertained snakes, eating each others' tails which Jake Gyllenhaal is name after. Still, it could had been left out. Then the movie became a symbolism smorgasbord with the endless mazes, one eye themes, opening Pandora's boxes, tattoos, free-mason rings, and that got the plot more confusing. Research all the examples, I have stated out. You find yourself, surprising in depth this movie goes. Trust me, the plot will get confusing. I had to watch it, multiply times to get all the twist and turns. It was a maze of suspects. The allegory of the prison is a significant theme throughout the film. Each character, whether psychologically or physically, is the subject of some kind of confinement. Without giving it away, the ending of the film is a brilliant bittersweet ending, that can be seem as both a happy and tragic at the same time. A lot of parents will be hugging their children tonight after watching this film. A few people might not like this movie due to its controversial subject matter. I think some Christian conservative might find the movie as liberal anti-Christian propaganda that makes Christians look bad. I didn't see it that way. I think a certain Alex Jones in the world, might, but I see Keller going through the same emotions if he wasn't a Christian. The characters put into huge stressful tragic events that makes them challenge their own faith. I think the use of faith was highly welcome into this film. It made the film interesting with its symbolism. The second thing, people didn't like is the animal abuse. First off, no animals were harm during the filming of this film. Second off, the killing of the deer makes more morality sense than it's made out to be. Deer can actually overpopulate an area and starve the local species if not controlled. Some states have actual contracts with hunters to maintain a quota by cutting the herd. Then there is the dog scene. Let's remember, Alex Jones is not a smart guy, so it would make sense that he wouldn't know how to handle a dog. I hate to see PETA boycott the film over those, without understanding the facts and story. The movie isn't about the animals, but looking for kidnap children. People coming in, should focus more that, then what happen to the animals. The question comes down to morals and ethics. The acting is amazing. It's seems to me that Jake Gallenhaal's Loki is such an interesting character that fans of the film is asking for a spin-off movie. By the way, Loki blink so much, is probably because he is a detective, and they rarely sleep. At less, that what I got from his character development. It's a very long movie directed by Denise Villeneuve, but not boring. It was a very tense film with little slow areas. Overall, it's can be a bit depressing, but the thrill factor made this movie bearable to watch and it deserve the critical acclaim that it got.