Prisoners

If you managed to catch Denis Villeneuve's Incendies from a few years ago it'll give you a fair indication as to what to to expect from this, his major studio debut. The main thread running through Incendies was a search for the truth capped off by a stunning twist in the last few minutes. Prisoners follows a similar tact, though any twists come more through gradual reveals as opposed to anything that will make you fall off your cinema seat. Talking of the twists the less said about the plot the better, though the film concerns Keller Dover (Hugh Jackman) a father who's daughter and her friend go missing following a Thanksgiving dinner. Detective Loki (Jake Gyllenhaal) takes up the case, but as soon as it appears the police are running into a dead end Dover, agitated with the police's lack of success, takes drastic action to attempt to move things along. This is one of the more thought provoking drama / thrillers of the year and addresses the classic human question of just how far would you go to protect someone you love. The moral question aside the film also doubles up as a cracking mystery with Villeneuve wisely using the M.O where plot revelations are made to the audience at the same time as the characters. Talking of the characters, despite this having a strong ensemble cast it is the two leads that demand the attention with arguably both Jackman and Gyllenhall giving the best performances of their careers. Jackman holds nothing back, laying down bare emotion and leaving little in the tank, so much so that in a scene where an enraged Dover is going nuts with a hammer you can clearly see Paul Dano break character as he attempts to avoid some real damage. Despite playing things lower key (and despite still looking around 20 years old), Gyllenhall is even better. Little is told of Loki's back story, but just from the look in Gyllenhaal's eyes you know that there are some serious demons in there and that solving cases is pretty much the only thing that keeps him going. On that note, this is certainly a dark film in terms of subject matter which Villeneuve augments with a sense of dread pretty much from the word go utilising murky filters and a menacing score. One of the few black marks to be held against Incendies was that it was held together by a number of somewhat credibility pushing coincidences. Prisoners is similar in the fact that the plot probably won't held up to forensic scrutiny. However, I suppose the old answer to that is what films screenplay would? Despite being in his late forties, Villeneuve is certainly one for the future. His films are not for everyone, but his talent cannot be denied, shown here by one of the gasp inducing moments of the year following the simple act of removing a sack from someone's head. Rating: 8/10.