Even for cinemaphiles, a two-and-a-half-hour film can be a wager. I have sworn to myself to give every movie I attend the benefit of the doubt and stay until the end no matter how bad it might turn out to be. But to hold out through 150 minutes of turkey-grade schlock … that's the stuff of nightmares.
I was, therefore, wary heading into Prisoners last weekend. This movie seemed to have sprung up on me out of nowhere: The first time I heard of it was last week. Bad thrillers can be a challenge to one’s sanity, and so—clocking in at 153 minutes—Prisoners appeared to be a high-stakes gamble.
That gamble paid off.
Prisoners, the latest movie from acclaimed Canadian director Denis Villeneuve, follows the desperate search for two little girls who disappear just yards from their homes. While young detective Loki (Jake Gyllenhaal) attempts to find leads, the father of one of the missing girls, Kellen Dover (Hugh Jackman), launches his own investigation. Villeneuve brings this seemingly well-trodden scenario to heart-pounding life.
The film's small-town setting is crucial to thickening the plot. Prisoners is set in an impoverished community in the back woods of Canada in late November. As I watched characters walk along forested roads in coats and hats, I found myself fondly reminded of Winter’s Bone (2010). Though most of the characters appeared to live in suburban lots, it was clear from the dilapidation that abounds that this place was pretty well-forgotten. And just like Winter’s Bone,Prisoners effectively draws suspense from the nature encroaching on the community. Villeneuve conjures just as much unease from a dark pit in the ground as from an unwelcome intruder.
Yet Prisoners manages to quickly disconnect itself from the neorealism of Winter’s Bone. As Loki and Dover’s investigations progress, revelations come to light that threaten to push the subdued plot of Prisoners toward the complex conspiracy plot twists of David Fincher or Christopher Nolan. Loki and Dover follow their own paths in their investigations, each meeting with dead ends and challenges to overcome. Though they uncover horrors and scars of crimes long past, they can’t truly understand the nature of the maze that they are in. They can only hope to find a way to get out of it.
The film stays grounded thanks to Jackman and Gyllenhaal. Despite the growing mystery, every action that the two characters make feels authentic. Their struggles, both outer and inner, feel all the more dramatic and real. There were several moments while watching the film—one in particular involving snakes—that had me cringing in unease without losing the authenticity of the characters. That is phenomenal writing.
I encourage you to go see Prisoners. This suspenseful independent thriller is well worth its 153-minute runtime.
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