DIRECTOR: Denis Villeneuve
CAST: Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Terrence Howard, Viola Davis, Maria Bello, Melissa Leo, Paul Dano, Dylan Minnette, Zoe Borde, Erin Gerasimovich, Kyla Drew Simmons, Wayne Duvall, Len Cariou, David Dastmalchian, Jeff Pope
RUNNING TIME: 153 mins
CERTIFICATE: 15
BASICALLY…: During a Thanksgiving meal, two young girls go missing. When the police, led by Detective Loki (Gyllenhaal), fail to prosecute a possible suspect (Dano), one of the girls’ fathers (Jackman) decides to take matters into his own hands…
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NOW FOR THE REVIEW…
Denis Villeneuve, director of the Oscar-nominated Canadian film Incendies, is off to a stunning start in the realm of American filmmaking with the impressive ensemble piece Prisoners. But while the crux of the film’s advertising is focused on its starry cast to lure in bigger audiences – and rightly so, as you’ll read later – there is so much more to the ticket than you may think.
To start, Prisoners has some of the best build-up you’ll see in a film all year. Always tense, always unpredictable and never resorting to overused clichés, it keeps your interest steady and alert. Anything could happen at any moment and the film so cleverly doesn’t prepare you for it. It’s a shock to the characters and thus it’s shocking to us as well. On top of that, the reigning mystery of the young girls’ disappearances is exactly what it needs to be: a mystery. False leads and red herrings pop out from every corner, but they don’t ever get boring. They are so genuine you’re actually manipulated into thinking they’re actually solved it and then shocked when they discover the case is far from solved. Even though it all does lead to something of a Scooby-Doo type ending which we obviously won’t give away here, it’s all in the journey and, man, was this a brilliantly paced journey.
Much of that journey also comes down to Aaron Guzikowski’s exceedingly dark screenplay, which as stated throws its audience round a loop several dozen times but doesn’t sugar coat some of its harsher moments. Most of the film sees Hugh Jackman’s distraught father keep a possible suspect (Paul Dano) hostage in an abandoned apartment complex, torturing him with physical violence and eventually building a DIY bath cupboard to douse him with either boiling hot or ice cold water. Think Guantanamo Bay in your own back yard, and the imagery is much more uncomfortable than you can imagine (see also Dano’s various facial bruises from the various punches delivered by his captors). While we’re on subject briefly, it is also a very well-shot movie, but then we’ve come to expect that from a working cinematography legend like Roger Deakins. Even the darkest scenes have this twisted sense of beauty to them, with luscious lighting and a great sense of atmosphere in smaller set pieces like police interrogation rooms and aforementioned torture buildings.
It’s a credit to Villeneuve for making what could have been a lesser film in someone else’s hands a real stand-out, but more credit actually needs to be brought to the film’s marketing team. In a rare move these days, most of the footage used in trailers all comes from the film’s first third (if not, the first half) whilst leaving what follows a complete surprise. Given how most trailers nowadays pretty much give the entire thing away, kudos to the studio and filmmakers for keeping the film’s surprises hidden to make the final product even more shocking. Why aren’t more trailers like the ones for Prisoners?
And, for that matter, when are we ever going to get a more impressive cast ensemble this year? You all knew this aspect of the film had to be talked about in this review, and how could it not go unmentioned, for it is one of the film’s greatest strengths. Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal – the latter as a detective working the missing girls’ case – get the lion’s share of scenes to show off their abilities, and both deliver some of their best work here. Also making a strong impression is Dano, a young man with the IQ “of a ten-year-old” who comes across as genuinely creepy but heartbreakingly misunderstood. His day will come when he can join his Prisoners peers as Oscar or Golden Globe nominees, and it’s possible this may be his ticket to the Dolby Theater. The rest of the cast have their own moments of acting brilliance, for instance Terrence Howard as the other girl’s father. He is not used as much as some of the others, but whenever he is on-screen he expands on his character’s likability and delivers some wonderful work. Also impressive are the potentially side-lined female roles that get their own great moments although, again, they are not given as much to do as the others. Viola Davis continues to prove her worth as one of the modern greats, especially in a scene where she tearfully confronts a captive Dano; and Maria Bello’s mother enters a depression state with mental side effects as a result of the kidnapping, which the actress pulls of extremely well. Some may criticise her role as just being there to cry which is completely understandable, but the fact that she sells them with great conviction and heart-breaking consequences is proof of a small and understated performance for the small and understated actress.
These are just some of the many winning factors that Villeneuve can use to call his English-language debut a roaring success that, despite what the title Prisoners may suggest, is unchained and free.
SO, TO SUM UP…
Prisoners is one of the most engaging films of the year, with its excellent writing and directing as well as its phenomenal acting ensemble having strong lasting power which makes you want to see it again moments after you leave the cinema.
