Prisoners (2013)
Average Rating: 7.2/10
Reviews Counted: 199
Fresh: 160 | Rotten: 39
Prisoners has an emotional complexity and a sense of dread that makes for absorbing (and disturbing) viewing.
Average Rating: 7.5/10
Critic Reviews: 46
Fresh: 37 | Rotten: 9
Prisoners has an emotional complexity and a sense of dread that makes for absorbing (and disturbing) viewing.
liked it
Average Rating: 4.2/5
User Ratings: 45,671
Movie Info
PRISONERS, from Oscar (R)-nominated director Denis Villeneuve, stars Oscar (R) nominees Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal in a story that poses the question: How far would you go to protect your child? Keller Dover (Jackman) is facing every parent's worst nightmare. His six-year-old daughter, Anna, is missing, together with her young friend, Joy, and as minutes turn to hours, panic sets in. The only lead is a dilapidated RV that had earlier been parked on their street. Heading the investigation,
Cast
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Hugh Jackman
Keller Dover -
Jake Gyllenhaal
Detective Loki -
Melissa Leo
Holly Jones -
Paul Dano
Alex Jones -
Maria Bello
Gracie Dover -
Viola Davis
Nancy Birch -
Terrence Howard
Franklin Birch -
Dylan Minnette
Ralph Dover -
Zoe Soul
Eliza Birch -
Erin Gerasimovich
Anna Dover -
Kyla-Drew Simmons
Joy Birch -
Wayne Duvall
Captain Richard O'Ma... -
Len Cariou
Father Patrick Dunn -
David Dastmalchian
Bob Taylor -
Brad James
Officer Carter -
Anthony Reynolds
Officer Wedge -
Robert C. Treveiler
Forensics Guy -
Sandra Ellis Laffert...
Mrs. Milland -
Victoria Elizabeth S...
Check Out Girl -
Todd Truley
Detective Chemelinsk... -
Brian Daye
Desk Sergeant -
Alisa Harris
Police Clerk -
Robert Mello
Roger -
Jeff Pope
Sex Offender #1 -
Rodrick Lee Goins
Sex Offender #2 -
Mark Drum
Sex Offender #3 -
Lana Yoo
Chinese Waitress -
Pam Smith
Police Station Repor... -
Gloria Webber
Police Station Repor... -
Michelle Keller
Woman at Vigil -
John Atwood
Newscaster -
Stacy Melich
Woman Motorist -
J. Omar Castro
Cop in Hospital -
Jane McNeill
Nurse
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Prisoners Trailer & Photos
All Critics (199) | Top Critics (46) | Fresh (160) | Rotten (39)
Prisoners is weary after ten minutes, and I suppose it has persuaded itself that its length is justified by its solemn gaze into the abyss.
Top CriticIn less talented hands, the story could lapse into the maudlin. But Villeneuve, director of the Oscar-nominated Incendies, seems to know just how far to go; only one moment feels less than authentic, but it would be a spoiler to mention it.
It's got lofty aspirations but it also wants to wallow in the muck - to thrill you and sicken you in equal measure while also being About Something.
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.
Prisoners is unforgettably relentless in asking moviegoers if Keller has gone too far. And, by extension, asking us how far we would go.
A film that, for all its pretensions and intermittent power, is essentially high-grade claptrap.
The film's pace is an endurance test... (but) everyone gets to share in the dread of the final revelations. Does the end justify the means?
Jackman is still in his phase of high-masculine misery... The entire performance is an exclamation point, and he swings it like a baseball bat.
The brutality and torture displayed by the "hero" of this piece makes for several uncomfortable moments.
It's rare to find a film that really works on all levels, but that's exactly what Denis Villeneuve's has constructed with Prisoners.
Edge of Your Seat Thriller
Roger Deakins uses erratic flashes and glimmers of light to suggest that deliverance is always close at hand, but not close enough.
While all this industrial strength acting is going on, there's also a pretty engrossing mystery afoot that keeps your attention.
It remains gripping because of the realistic grounding of its characters and the raw vulnerability in the performances.
This is about as intense as movies can get. Superb performances and great direction will keep you on the edge of your seat.
Dark, sombre and deadly serious, Prisoners has more than fifty shades of grey in it, but Rogers Deakins ensures that each and every one is great to look at.
It's a tense and engaging thriller with some big ideas, only some of which it is able to carry.
Hollywood thrillers that feature vigilantes usually pander to our baser instincts. Prisoners doesn't let us off the hook so easily.
A story too densely plotted to feel real but too well built to fall over.
A good film with a shoddy ending that keeps it from being great.
"Prisoners" is a dark, thought-provoking thriller for the grown-up audience that made "Silence of the Lambs" a hit.
The very model of an Oscarbaiting exercise in social critique and deeply ambiguous character drama. Except for the part where the script makes it feel more like a trashy beach read.
In his first film since Skyfall, the cinematography by Torquay-born Roger Deakins is as stunning as you'd expect from a true craftsman with ten unfulfilled Oscar nominations since The Shawshank Redemption in 1995.
"Prisoners" is gripping and exceptionally well made, but I found it relentless-too bleak for my taste...
I like the film's solid, old-fashioned style, the way it resembles the smart adult thrillers of the '70s and assumes the audience is savvy enough to follow the details.
Deserves credit for artfully presenting its nightmarish moral dilemmas with little pretense or grandstanding.
Audience Reviews for Prisoners
Super Reviewer
Hugh Jackman gives one of his most ferocious performances. This is a side of him you have never seen before. The supporting case including Terrence Howard, Viola Davis, Maria Bello, Paul Dano and of course Gyllenhaal are all spectacular here, but it is Hugh Jackman who outshines everyone. Prisoners is an emotionally complex and disturbingly eerie thriller that is brought down by its obvious plot twists, but is still worth seeing for its sheer intensity and Award worthy acting.
Super Reviewer
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- Keller Dover: I'm not going to have Christmas without my daughter!
- Franklin Birch: I miss my daughter to!
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- Keller Dover: Where is my daughter? I'm not having Christmas without my daughter!
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- Detective Loki: I know where you're going.
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- Keller Dover: I don't think you are considering all the possibilities!!!
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- Keller Dover: Every day she's wondering why I'm not there!!! Not you, but me!!!
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- Keller Dover: Every day she's wondering why I'm not there, me! Not you!
Discussion Forum
| Topic | Last Post | Replies |
|---|---|---|
| Guess the tomatometer! | 13 days ago | 38 |
| I think this is gonna surprise the audiance. | 5 days ago | 35 |
| This looks awesome | 6 days ago | 35 |
| RRRR! Im Hugh Jackman, Im yelling at stuff to be dramatic. Give me my oscar nomination. | 7 days ago | 24 |
| Thumbs down. | 5 days ago | 15 |
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Latest News on Prisoners
September 22, 2013:
Box Office Guru Wrapup: Prisoners Captures the Top SpotNorth American audiences drove the well-reviewed kidnapping thriller Prisoners to the number one...
September 19, 2013:
Critics Consensus: Prisoners is Certified FreshThis week at the movies, we've got a frantic search (Prisoners, starring Hugh Jackman and Jake...
September 19, 2013:
Jake Gyllenhaal's Best MoviesIn what promises to be the most nail-bitingly intense kidnapping drama since Ron Howard directed Mel...
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Foreign Titles
- Prisoners (DE)
- Prisoners (UK)
