Prisoners (2013)
Average Rating: 7.3/10
Reviews Counted: 213
Fresh: 173 | Rotten: 40
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.
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Average Rating: 4.1/5
User Ratings: 60,562
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
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All Critics (213) | Top Critics (46) | Fresh (173) | Rotten (40)
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.
Unfolds with the sickening tension of a great police procedural, all while poking at America's social and political hypocrisies.
It's impossible to ignore that you are looking at unspeakable cruelty which, even if justifiable, must be ruinous to the soul of the wielder. You expect that to become the theme of the film, but, astonishingly, it never does.
A dark, foreboding and riveting thriller, that will leave many spun by its labyrinth plot, spellbound by its strong performances and haunted by its many moral and religious complexities.
He's the film's most interesting character and it's a great performance from Jake Gyllenhaal.
...palpably ominous and unsettling...
If there is one thing above all else to recommend Prisoners, it's the way it captures that white-hot skewer of fear that must run through the heart and mind of every parent who has ever suddenly looked around them and thought, "where's my kid?"
Prisoners is haunting and will stick with you ... this is one of the best films of the year.
This moody police procedural with Jake Gyllenhaal in sublime form may be nearly three hours long, but it's worth every minute.
Proves compelling, thanks in part to subject matter that practically demands emotional investment from an audience: children in peril.
Um drama tocante, um suspense sufocante e um filme de detetive magnífico. Um dos melhores longas do ano, sem dúvida alguma.
Denis Villeneuve's Prisoners is a nasty piece of work. Indeed, it is about as bleak and unforgiving as mainstream, studio moviemaking gets.
A gritty and intensely unsettling story of child abduction and obsession.
Not since Erskineville Kings, in 1999, has Hugh Jackman appeared so emotionally exposed on screen. It is an exceptional, Oscar-worthy performance.
a tense morality play wrapped in the bristling genre trappings of a police procedural, is exhausting in all the best ways-emotionally, intellectually, philosophically
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.
Audience Reviews for Prisoners
Super Reviewer
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Super Reviewer
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- Alex Jones: They didn't cry until I left them.
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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!!!
Discussion Forum
| Topic | Last Post | Replies |
|---|---|---|
| Guess the tomatometer! | 35 days ago | 38 |
| I think this is gonna surprise the audiance. | 27 days ago | 35 |
| This looks awesome | 29 days ago | 35 |
| RRRR! Im Hugh Jackman, Im yelling at stuff to be dramatic. Give me my oscar nomination. | 29 days ago | 24 |
| Thumbs down. | 5 hours ago | 17 |
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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)
