Prisoners (2013 film)

In Conyers, Pennsylvania, the Dover and Birch families celebrate Thanksgiving. After dinner, girls Anna Dover and Joy Birch go missing after playing on a parked RV. Detective Loki responds to a police call about an RV matching the description and arrests the man inside, Alex Jones. During interrogation, Loki realizes Alex's diminished IQ prevents him from planning a kidnapping and learns that his RV contains no forensic evidence of the missing girls. Loki runs down leads on local sex offenders and finds a corpse in the house of priest Patrick Dunn. Dunn admits to killing him after the man confessed to murdering 16 children for his "war on God".

The police release Alex to his aunt, Holly. Convinced of Alex's guilt, Keller Dover, the father of one of the missing girls, assaults him outside the police station, where Alex whispers to him, "They didn't cry 'til I left them." After Loki finds no proof of this, Keller kidnaps Alex, and begins to torture Alex for information about his daughter, in an empty building Keller owns.

At a vigil for the girls, Loki approaches a suspicious man who flees. Loki releases a sketch of him to the community. The suspect sneaks into the Birch and Dover houses. Grace, Keller's wife, hears him and calls Loki. He tails Keller to the empty building, where Keller claims he goes to drink, but Loki does not find Alex. Loki tracks down and arrests the suspect, Bob Taylor, at his house. The walls are covered in maze drawings and Loki opens crates filled with snakes and bloody children's clothes. Loki shows Keller and the Birch parents photos of the bloody clothes, and they identify several as Joy's and Anna's. As Taylor draws detailed mazes, Loki assaults him, demanding the location of the girls. Taylor grabs an officer's gun and kills himself.

Keller continues torturing Alex, who cryptically talks about a maze. Keller visits Holly, learning that Alex's stuttering stems from a childhood accident involving snakes her husband kept. Holly and her husband lost their faith after their son died of cancer, and they adopted Alex as a way to cope. Loki matches the maze pattern in Taylor's drawings to a necklace depicting a maze worn by the corpse in Dunn's house. At Taylor's house, Loki is informed that most of the bloody clothes are store-bought and soaked with pig blood. Below a window outside the Dover house, Loki finds Taylor's footprints and a sock matching Anna's, which Keller had earlier identified.

The drugged Anna and Joy attempt to escape, but only Joy succeeds and is found and hospitalized. When Keller questions a woozy Joy, she remembers little, but tells him, "You were there." He immediately rushes out. Loki gives chase and arrives at Keller's building expecting to find him, but instead finds Alex. Keller goes to Holly's to find Anna. They talk for a while before Holly pulls a gun. She explains that before the disappearance of her husband (implied to be the corpse in Dunn's basement), they abducted children as part of their war on God to avenge their son's death, and to create demons out of the traumatized parents. Alex was their first abduction, and Taylor was their second. Holly imprisons Keller in a hidden pit in her yard, where he finds his daughter's whistle.

Loki enters Holly's house to inform her that Alex has been found, but instead finds a photo of her late husband wearing the maze necklace. Realizing that Holly is the kidnapper, he searches and finds her giving Anna an injection. In a shootout, Loki kills Holly but is grazed in the head. He rushes Anna to the hospital while fighting unconsciousness.

A recuperating Anna and Joy visit a bandaged Loki in his hospital room to thank him. Later, Loki wanders the crime scene at Holly's house, when he faintly hears a whistle blowing.

{{Cast listing|

• Hugh Jackman as Keller Dover
• Jake Gyllenhaal as Detective Loki
• Viola Davis as Nancy Birch
• Maria Bello as Grace Dover
• Terrence Howard as Franklin Birch
• Melissa Leo as Holly Jones
• Paul Dano as Alex Jones
• Dylan Minnette as Ralph Dover
• Zoë Soul as Eliza Birch
• Erin Gerasimovich as Anna Dover
• Kyla-Drew Simmons as Joy Birch
• Wayne Duvall as Captain Richard O'Malley
• Len Cariou as Father Patrick Dunn
• David Dastmalchian as Bob Taylor
• Brad James as Officer Carter
• Dennis Christopher as Mr. Jones (uncredited)

}}

Aaron Guzikowski wrote the script for the 2009 Annual Black List, and based on a short story he wrote, involving "a father whose kid was struck by a hit-and-run driver and then puts this guy in a well in his backyard". That short story was partially inspired by Edgar Allan Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart".{{cite web|last1=Giroux|first1=Jack|title=Interview: The Back-to-Basics Brutality of 'Prisoners'|date=September 20, 2013|url=https://filmschoolrejects.com/interview-the-back-to-basics-brutality-of-prisoners-ede2ce6b05d9/|access-date=July 28, 2017|archive-date=July 28, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170728130210/https://filmschoolrejects.com/interview-the-back-to-basics-brutality-of-prisoners-ede2ce6b05d9/|url-status=live}}

After he wrote the spec, many actors and directors entered and exited the project, including actors Christian Bale and Leonardo DiCaprio and directors Antoine Fuqua and Bryan Singer. Once Denis Villeneuve was brought onto the project, Timothée Chalamet unsuccessfully auditioned for a role; Villeneuve and Chalamet would later work together in Dune and Dune: Part Two.{{cite magazine |last=Holub |first=Christian |date=October 13, 2021 |title=Doing Dune right: Inside the making of the long-awaited (and star-packed) adaptation |url=https://ew.com/movies/getting-dune-right-cover-story/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211013160708/https://ew.com/movies/getting-dune-right-cover-story/ |archive-date=October 13, 2021 |access-date=September 15, 2024 |magazine=Entertainment Weekly}}

Ultimately Guzikowski would credit producer Mark Wahlberg for getting the project on its feet, stating, "He was totally pivotal in getting the film made. That endorsement helped it get around." Principal photography began in Georgia in February 2013.{{Cite web|url=https://collider.com/production-begins-on-denis-villeneuves-thriller-prisoners-starring-hugh-jackman-and-jake-gyllenhaal/|title=Production Begins on Denis Villeneuve's PRISONERS, Starring Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal|date=February 20, 2013|website=Collider}}

Prisoners premiered at the 2013 Telluride Film Festival and was released theatrically in Canada and the United States on September 20, 2013. It was originally rated NC-17 by the MPAA "for substantial disturbing violent content and explicit images"; after being edited, it was re-rated R "for disturbing violent content including torture, and language throughout".{{cite web|url=https://www.wickedhorror.com/features/not-quite-horror-prisoners-2013/|first=Joey|last=Keogh|title=Not Quite Horror: Prisoners (2013)|publisher=Wicker Horror|date=November 18, 2015|access-date=July 13, 2020|archive-date=July 13, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200713012112/https://www.wickedhorror.com/features/not-quite-horror-prisoners-2013/|url-status=live}}

Prisoners opened in North America on September 20, 2013, in 3,260 theaters and grossed $20,817,053 in its opening weekend, averaging $6,386 per theater and ranking #1 at the box office. After 77 days in theaters, the film ended up earning $61,002,302 domestically and $61,124,385 internationally, earning a worldwide gross of $122,126,687, above its production budget of $46 million.{{cite web |url= http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=prisoners.htm |title= Prisoners (2013) |work= Box Office Mojo |publisher= IMDb |access-date= January 10, 2014 |archive-date= June 6, 2016 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160606192825/http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=prisoners.htm |url-status= live }}

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 81% based on 254 reviews, with a rating average of 7.3/10. The website's critical consensus states: "Prisoners has an emotional complexity and a sense of dread that makes for absorbing (and disturbing) viewing."{{cite web |title=Prisoners (2013) |url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/prisoners_2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210511095626/https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/prisoners_2013 |archive-date=May 11, 2021 |access-date=April 8, 2024 |work=Rotten Tomatoes |publisher=Fandango}} On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 70 out of 100, based on 53 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".{{cite web |url=http://www.metacritic.com/movie/prisoners |title=Prisoners (2013) |work=Metacritic |publisher=CBS Interactive |access-date=May 6, 2020 |archive-date=July 2, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170702030153/http://www.metacritic.com/movie/prisoners |url-status=live }}

Christopher Orr of The Atlantic wrote: "Ethical exploration or exploitation? In the end, I come down reservedly on the former side: the work done here by Jackman, Gyllenhaal, and especially Villeneuve is simply too powerful to ignore."{{Cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2013/09/-em-prisoners-em-moral-exploration-or-exploitation/279867/|title=Prisoners: Moral Exploration or Exploitation?|first=Christopher|last=Orr|date=September 20, 2013|website=The Atlantic|access-date=April 30, 2020|archive-date=February 18, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220218011346/https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2013/09/-em-prisoners-em-moral-exploration-or-exploitation/279867/|url-status=live}} Ed Gibbs of The Sun Herald wrote: "Not since Erskineville Kings, in 1999, has Hugh Jackman appeared so emotionally exposed on screen. It is an exceptional, Oscar-worthy performance."{{Cite web|url=https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/movies/prisoners-review-dream-performances-enliven-every-parents-worst-nightmare-20131010-2vamg.html|title=Prisoners review: Dream performances enliven every parent's worst nightmare|first=Ed|last=Gibbs|date=October 12, 2013|website=The Sydney Morning Herald|access-date=May 11, 2020|archive-date=March 3, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210303032134/https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/movies/prisoners-review-dream-performances-enliven-every-parents-worst-nightmare-20131010-2vamg.html|url-status=live}} Peter Travers of Rolling Stone wrote that Gyllenhaal was "exceptional" and that "Villeneuve takes his unflashy time building character and revealing troubled psyches in the most unlikely of places."{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-reviews/prisoners-116111/|title=Prisoners|first=Peter|last=Travers|magazine=Rolling Stone |date=September 19, 2013}}

The film was a second runner-up for the BlackBerry People's Choice Award at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival, behind Philomena and 12 Years a Slave. Gyllenhaal received the Best Supporting Actor of the Year Award at the 2013 Hollywood Film Festival for his "truly compelling, subtly layered" performance as Detective Loki.

Not all reviews were positive, however. Writing in The New Republic, David Thomson declared that the film was "weary after ten minutes" and furthermore "hideous, cruel, degrading, depressing, relentless, prolonged, humorless, claustrophobic, and a mockery of any surviving tradition in which films are entertaining".{{Cite magazine|url=https://newrepublic.com/article/114814/prisoners-reviewed-david-thomson|title='Prisoners' and the Rotten State of Hollywood|first=David|last=Thomson|date=September 23, 2013|magazine=The New Republic}} A mixed review came from Sheila O'Malley of RogerEbert.com, who gave the film 2.5 stars out of a possible 4. She wrote that Jackman's performance grew "monotonous" and that the film sometimes verged on pretentiousness, but was redeemed by a few excellent suspense sequences and Gyllenhaal's performance, whose "subtlety is welcome considering all the teeth gnashing going on in other performances".{{Cite web|url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/prisoners-2013|title=Prisoners movie review & film summary (2013) | Roger Ebert|first=Sheila|last=O'Malley|website=rogerebert.com/}}

Audiences polled by CinemaScore initially gave the film a grade "B+" on an A+ to F scale, but Warner Bros asked for a recount by the service and later said the film received a grade "A−".{{cite web |date= October 18, 2013 |first= Pamela |last= McClintock |title= CinemaScore in Retreat as Studios Turn to PostTrak |work= The Hollywood Reporter |url= http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/cinemascore-retreat-as-studios-turn-648341 |access-date= January 28, 2019 |archive-date= April 1, 2019 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190401134120/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/cinemascore-retreat-as-studios-turn-648341 |url-status= live }}{{Cite web |url=https://www.cinemascore.com/publicsearch/index/title/ |title=Cinemascore :: Movie Title Search |access-date=January 28, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181220122629/https://www.cinemascore.com/publicsearch/index/title/ |archive-date=December 20, 2018 |url-status=dead }}

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Prisoners was listed on various critics' top ten lists.{{Cite web|url=https://www.metacritic.com/feature/film-critic-top-10-lists-best-movies-of-2013|title=2013 Film Critic Top Ten Lists|website=Metacritic|access-date=May 6, 2020|archive-date=January 2, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140102162352/http://www.metacritic.com/feature/film-critic-top-10-lists-best-movies-of-2013|url-status=live}}

• 1st – Nigel M. Smith, Indiewire{{Cite web|url=https://www.indiewire.com/2013/12/indiewires-editors-and-bloggers-pick-their-top-10-films-and-in-some-cases-tv-shows-of-2013-31897/|title=Indiewire's Editors and Bloggers Pick Their Top 10 Films (and In Some Cases TV Shows) of 2013|author=IndieWire Staff|date=December 25, 2013|access-date=May 6, 2020|archive-date=September 15, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200915100942/https://www.indiewire.com/2013/12/indiewires-editors-and-bloggers-pick-their-top-10-films-and-in-some-cases-tv-shows-of-2013-31897/|url-status=live}}
• 2nd – Rex Reed, The New York Observer
• 5th – Justin Robar, BridgewatersFinest
• 6th – Kyle Smith, New York Post
• 7th – James Berardinelli, Reelviews
• 7th – Barbara Vancheri, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
• 9th – Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly
• Top 10 (listed alphabetically, not ranked) – Calvin Wilson, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

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{{Main|Prisoners (soundtrack)}}

The Prisoners soundtrack, composed by Jóhann Jóhannsson, was released on September 20, 2013.{{cite web |url=http://www.soundtrackmania.com/prisoners-soundtrack-list.html |title=Prisoners Soundtrack |work=SoundtrackMania.com |access-date=August 1, 2014 |archive-date=August 8, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140808054435/http://www.soundtrackmania.com/prisoners-soundtrack-list.html |url-status=live }}{{cite web |url=http://www.soundtrack.net/movie/prisoners |title=Prisoners Soundtrack |work=Soundtrack.Net |access-date=August 1, 2014 |archive-date=September 6, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130906180346/http://www.soundtrack.net/movie/prisoners/ |url-status=live }}

• The Secret in Their Eyes (2009), an Argentine-Spanish film which includes a theme of suspect kidnapping

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{{National Board of Review Award for Best Cast}}

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Category:2013 films

Category:2013 crime drama films

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Category:2010s American films

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Category:2010s vigilante films

Category:Alcon Entertainment films

Category:American crime drama films

Category:American crime thriller films

Category:American films about revenge

Category:American psychological thriller films

Category:American vigilante films

Category:English-language crime drama films

Category:English-language crime thriller films

Category:Films about child abduction in the United States

Category:Films about father–son relationships

Category:Films about missing people

Category:Films directed by Denis Villeneuve

Category:Films scored by Jóhann Jóhannsson

Category:Films set in Pennsylvania

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Category:Lionsgate films

Category:Saturn Award–winning films

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