by Emily Wemhoff

From the trailers, I thought “Prisoners” would be a typical crime thriller, featuring high action and maybe with a few Oscar-worthy performances. Although it didn’t live up to my extremely high expectations, “Prisoners” was overall a well-made movie. It features an appealing award-winning cast, with especially good individual performances by Hugh Jackman and Maria Bello.

The film centers around father and recovering alcoholic Keller Dover (Hugh Jackman) and his mission to find his daughter and her friend after they go missing on Thanksgiving. Keller, his wife (Maria Bello) and the parents of the missing friend, Franklin and Nancy Birch (Terrence Howard and Viola Davis), eventually come to the realization that their daughters may have been abducted.Detective Loki (Jake Gyllenhaal), assigned to the case, comes up with only one suspect who is quickly released. Keller then decides to take matters into his own hands and proceeds to kidnap the suspect (Paul Dano).

“Prisoners” has mostly dark and depressing tones. The movie takes you on a wild rollercoaster of emotions, ranging from suspense to fear to hatred. There were lots of unexpected plot twists that no one could see coming. I think everyone walked out of the theater shocked and surprised.

The one major downfall is the fact that it dragged about 25 minutes too long. Although the movie faltered and slowed toward the end, the bulk of the emotional, suspenseful and complex storyline made up for it.

If you are looking to question your morality, then this is the movie for you.The film is relentless in asking “What would you do in Keller’s shoes and your kid was missing?” I pictured myself in both the parents’ and the kids’ situation and it was so real to me that I feared for my own siblings and parents and how they would react if it happened to me.

“Prisoners” ultimately is compelling and slightly disturbing because of the realistic and raw portrayals and situations presented.  The movie demonstrated the pain and intense love that a parent has for their child. It is a movie that you will want to see again to analyze the moral questions that are brought up.