Prisoners Review

Title- Prisoners

Director- Dennis Villeneuve

Cast- Hugh Jackman

          Jake Gyllenhaal

          Maria Bello

          Paul Dano

Certificate- 15

Run time- 153 mins

If you are looking for a perfect date film; stay clear away from this brilliantly dark and undoubtedly dismal thriller. Prisoners tells the story of a man who will go to all extremes after his daughter is taken. Keller (Jackman) is a loving father and husband whose daughter inexplicably vanishes bringing in detective Loki (Gyllenhall, not to be confused with the maniacal Norse god), a secretive detective with a temper as thin as ice. After some time of searching, a young man with the IQ of a 10 year old is found on suspicion of kidnapping and potential murder, but is soon released only to be met by Keller.

Dennis Villeneuve brings us a film similar to that of 2007's David Fincher film Zodiac (also starring Gyllenhaal) in terms of the lighting acting and generally somber tone of the film. And just like Zodiac, this near perfect thriller keeps you guessing all the way to the end up until the final scene and unpredictable final act. 

With the awards season now in full swing, there is no reason why either Jackman, Dano or Gyllenhaal shouldn't be nominated for an academy award as all three are on top form in this film, especially Gyllenhaal whose brilliant performance in last years cop drama End of Watch must have helped him prepare for this extremely challenging role. 

Jackman pulls in what is probably the best performance of his career as a man with no limits, and no remorse for doing what he thinks is right. This extends to the scenes involving Dano kept in captivity by Jackman by chaining him to a sink. Jackmans permenantly angry and desperate character contains much more emotion and depth than any other character in this film allowing him to perform to the best of his ability, resulting in a brilliant Oscar worthy performance.

Roger Deakins' use of cinematography is quite amazing as it brilliantly catches the tone of the scene without the need for the script and uses this to his advantages gripping us with camera trickery and lighting that greatly reveals this dull and dismal world behind the "perfect" family life in the suburbs of America.

In the end Prisoners is a near perfect thriller with its main downfall being the run time (it can feel longer than it needs to), but other than that great performances, amazing visuals and one of the best screenplays of the year make this a good start to the awards season.

9/10