Film lets us believe good guys can win
PRISONERS Starring: Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Viola Davis, Maria Bello, Terrence Howard, Melissa Leo, Paul Dano Directed by Denis Villeneuve Written by Aaron Guzikowski Drama, mystery, thriller. 2hr 33mins. R16 for violence, offensive language and content that may disturb. It’s an uncomfortable coincidence that haunting abduction tale Prisoners, by Canadian director Denis Villeneuve, should hit cinemas the same week the news has been dominated by the real- life disappearance of Madeleine McCann.
The film, about the disappearance of two young girls in suburban Pennsylvania, feels like some kind of wish fulfillment fantasy of abduction.
Unlike the endless uncertainty faced by the McCanns, the film indicates that parents of missing children can hope to find them if they have enough faith in themselves.
Kellor Dover (Hugh Jackman) does just that when his daughter and her friend disappear and the lead suspect, mentally handicapped Alex Jones (Paul Dano), is released owing to lack of evidence.
In a desperate and gruesome bid to make him confess their location, Dover kidnaps and tortures Jones.
But as detective Loki (Jake Gyllenhaal) comes closer to the truth, Dover must face the reality of what he’s done and who Jones is.
Twists and turns come thick and fast in the second half of the film, but it’s the first half that feels most authentic.
The relentless dread felt by the missing girls’ families, the frustration and anger of the police and the creeping pathos of the suspects is heartwrenchingly familiar and as engrossing as any documentary.
Prisoners has more depth than your average episode of Special Victims Unit.
The bleak setting – an autumnally barren Pennsylvania – and gritty characters make for a chilling, suspenseful thriller with a dominant theme of faith.
Self- sufficient survivalist Dover dispenses Apocalyptic wisdom to his son. His ute has a cross hanging from the mirror, a Christian fish symbol on its bumper and a radio tuned to the local evangelical channel.
Detective Loki – looking more like an inmate than a cop – shares his name with a pagan god and has pagan symbols tattooed on his skin.
They’re men of faith, faith in themselves and in a higher power, which ordains them to do whatever they have to do – Loki within the law and Kellor under the aegis of his own sense of justice.
What makes an escapist fantasy like Prisoners so satisfying is that it lets us believe for a few hours that real monsters can be beaten by strong men with good hearts who believe in something.
Also seen: Mr Pip – a marvellous cast tells a beautiful, romantic, tragic coming-of-age tale against the backdrop of the Papua New Guinea/Bougainville war.