‘Prisoners’ – Denis Villeneuve’s Modern Vigilante Classic 10 Years Later

While I’m pretty sure that only parents can properly fathom the indescribable horror of discovering that your child is missing, I think anyone can relate to the desperation of losing a loved one. That’s why it makes sense that this premise has been used as a jumping off point for all sorts of revenge narratives since time immemorial, with badass protagonists often doing whatever it takes to either recover or avenge missing family members.

However, there is one film that explores a much less glamorous side of these cinematic vendettas, and that would be Denis Villeneuve’s 2013 thriller Prisoners, a modern classic that explores just how far a desperate man might go when he’s convinced that his terrible actions are completely justified.

Originally a spec script by Aaron Guzikowski that wound up on the 2009 Black List, Prisoners would only get off the ground when Mark Wahlberg stepped in as a producer after being impressed with the story’s many twists and turns. Directors like Antoine Fuqua and Bryan Singer were considered to helm the project before the production team landed on the then-upcoming French-Canadian filmmaker Denis Villeneuve – with this being his first American project.

In the finished film, we follow Hugh Jackman as Keller Dover, a Pennsylvanian survivalist whose daughter and her friend go missing on Thanksgiving after playing around a suspicious RV. Police Detective Loki (Jake Gyllenhaal) soon locates the mentally handicapped owner of said RV, Alex Jones (Paul Dano), only to realize that there’s no substantial evidence that he’s involved with the kidnapping. Unwilling to accept this, Keller takes the law into his own hands and kidnaps Alex with the intention of torturing him until he reveals where the kids are.

What follows is a harrowing look at the dark side of vigilante justice and just how easy it is for a well-intentioned man to spiral into madness.

SO WHY IS IT WORTH WATCHING?

It’s no surprise that Prisoners was both a commercial and critical success upon release, winning several awards and launching Villeneuve’s mainstream Hollywood career. At the time, media outlets were a bit torn about the flick’s extreme content (with some critics and even the MPAA claiming that the film went too far in its depictions of violence), but it was mostly agreed on that this was one hell of an original thriller.

For starters, there are excellent performances here all-around. With an ensemble cast featuring heavy hitters like Viola Davis, Terrence Howard and even David Dastmalchian before he was recognized as one of our favorite character actors, the world of Prisoners feels alive despite the dreary tone and eerie subject matter.

I especially appreciate Gyllenhaal’s contributions to the film, with the actor coming up with Detective Loki’s idiosyncrasies on his own (like his Zodiac tattoos and facial tics) and serving as an unexpectedly likable foil to Jackman’s character in a story that subverts the usual moral standards of this type of film.

Naturally, the visuals also help to elevate this unusual experience, which is why Roger Deakins’ Academy Award nomination for best cinematography was completely justified. The film boasts some extremely foreboding atmosphere and rainy photography that completely resignifies the sleepy suburbs of inner Pennsylvania into a much darker hyper-reality. While the movie is never too stylized to be believable, you get the sense that you’re trapped in this rainy nightmare alongside our main characters.

Despite all these accolades, what I personally appreciate the most here is Guzikowski’s highly efficient script. The Raised by Wolves screenwriter is clearly making use of every part of the buffalo when nearly every piece of dialogue and recurring imagery is eventually repurposed in the narrative further down the line – making this a thoroughly satisfying mystery as well as an emotional roller coaster.

AND WHAT MAKES IT HORROR ADJACENT?

Guzikowski has repeatedly claimed that his script was originally inspired by Edgar Allan Poe’s The Tell-Tale Heart, with the initial version of this yarn being a short story about a grief-stricken father trapping the man who killed his child inside of a well in his backyard. While only the broad emotional strokes of this premise remain in the finished film, Prisoners still retains the horrific spirit of a Poe narrative, with Jackman’s take on Dover remaining a clear analogue for Poe’s vision of a protagonist that’s slowly revealed to be a monster.

Honestly, the most disturbing thing about this film is Jackman’s portrayal of a man attempting to justify his insane behavior as he plays one of the most divisive main characters in modern cinema. While you can’t help but root for Keller’s quest in the same way you that might cheer for Liam Neeson while watching Taken, even the most jaded of genre fans will soon find themselves squirming in their seats as our protagonist resorts to Jigsaw-worthy acts of torture on a clearly confused victim.

And while the ultimate reveal isn’t quite as terrifying as the dreadful build-up (I would actually have preferred it if the abduction had been completely random and unrelated to the town’s sordid history), the dark subject matter and incredibly enthralling investigative elements are likely to stick with you long after the credits roll – especially after that banger of a final scene.

At the end of the day, Prisoners is more likely to thrill and captivate viewers than legitimately scare them, but there’s no denying that this mean little thriller dives into some deeply uncomfortable territory. That’s why I think it’s the perfect example of a horror-adjacent experience and Villeneuve’s creepiest film to date (though arachnophobes might disagree due to some unsettling imagery in Enemy).