Prisoners Film Review (2013) – The Twisty Maze

(This is Prisoners film review, which is a thriller film that is Villeneuve’s first English-language feature film)

What happened when your child goes missing and you found that the main suspect is let go freely after? Prisoners use that exact sentiment but also does it in a way that is quite unexpected.

It is directed by the acclaimed director Denis Villeneuve and starred Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Viola Davis, Maria Bello, Terrence Howard, Melissa Leo, and Paul Dano. Let’s not waster anymore time and jump down to the Prisoners film review below!

Premise

When two families experienced the kidnappings of each of their youngest child, the dads went into overage in an attempt to track them down. However, the main suspect that was caught by the police was determined to be innocent. But with the hatred still remained in their heart, what would the dads do to get back their daughters? And would the truth be that simple?

Prisoners Film Review

Premise

The premise will definitely win some award, as least for me. The whole film was pretty unpredictable from the start till the end, and there were twists within a twist that was foreshadowed way earlier. It was a great film that keep you hooked to find out more, but with each answer creating more questions. In fact, the film always made you expect something and then brought out another thing entirely. And it was all great twists that was like a well-built maze, where by the end of it all, you would feel that you have just watched something greater than you thought it would be.

Prisoners film review jake gyllenhaal — Jake the smiling detective!

The film introduced new character at a well time pace and flow, with their appearance raising questions and deduction which lead to another clues. What’s more, all these clues could be pieced together if you are attentive to all of them. It’s a bit like a detective work that will make you proud that you have solved the ultimate kidnapping case. All in all, the premise was great, pretty original as well as masterfully directed to provide intense and emotional ride throughout the film.

You would feel that you have just watched something greater than you thought it would be

Pacing

Pacing is yet another part that was expertly paced. Even though the film was over 2.5h long, it did not feel like it as you would be engrossed into the film right from the start. Each sequence of event always brought in new clues and none of them were just extra scenes added in for fun. There were some carefully placed quiet moments in the middle of intense moments that makes things more impactful. You will be taken for a ride that let you witness some wonderful acting from the casts that will hit you in the soul.

Characters

Prisoners film review jdad and police — Dad vs Police

Characters are the main ingredients here and they are given much spotlight to shine as well as grow. We are shown mostly the perspectives of the Dad acted by Hugh Jackman, Dover as well as the police detective Loki, helmed by Jake Gyllenhaal. Their actings were really spot on and they were able to bring out true emotions that befit the fate that fell on their characters. Each of them displayed natural behaviours that you would instantly relate to, and this made them more than just one-dimensional character. None of the characters are fully bad or good, for they all have their own reason for doing their deeds.

None of the characters are fully bad or good, for they all have their own reason for doing their deeds

I like how they showed the unexpected side of each character. which did some deeds that you would never expect that they would do. Some of what they did were borderline cruel and evil, but because you know of their core motivation for such actions, you empathised with them. There were some pretty gory and bloody scenes that would make the good guys look like bad guys. And then some were the reverse, where the antagonists seemed to be doing something good while doing the evil deeds. Nothing is black and white here, and this made the characters complex and full of life. It truly helped in making us connect emotionally to all of the characters.

Prisoners film review gory scene — Some bloody scene…

Soundtrack

The soundtrack are pretty great with appropriate tracks that fit the mood and atmosphere. However, the best part was when they used some natural foley for the quiet moments which really caused them to stand out even more, as well as being more memorable and impactful.

Prisoners Film Review (2013) – The Twisty Maze

Story

Pacing

Characters

Soundtrack

Reader Rating0 Votes0

What's good

Great acting from the actors

Characters are complex and filled with personalities

Full of twists that are foreshadowed earlier

Greatly paced film that juggles quiet and intense moments well

Unpredictable and quite original premise

Pretty good soundtrack

What's bad

Not a family friendly film due to some gory scenes

Premise can be a bit dark for some audience

4.5

HOLY!

A film that was a hidden masterpiece!

Sometimes something appeared along the way that captured your attention and provided some truly unexpected enjoyment, and this is one such hidden gem!

[Prisoners film review score table]

Author Details

Author Details

Anthony L Tjandra

An everyday guy who is the founder of Controller Companies. He started it when he was frustrated to find that the stuff he bought had no reviews available online. Thus, this website is created with the sole purpose of reviewing stuff that he has seen, bought, used or enjoyed! Now, he is probably doing another review while you are reading this.