'Prisoners'

How far would you go to protect your child? Keller Dover is facing every parent's worst nightmare. His six year old daughter Anna is missing, together with her friend Joy, and as minutes turns to hours, panic sets in. And the families run through the rain in search of the two little girls. The only lead is a old dilapidated RV that had earlier been parked on their street and the girls were said to be playing on it. Heading the investigation, Detective Loki arrests its driver, Alex Jones, but a lack of evidence forces the only suspect's release. Knowing his child's life is at stake, the frantic Dover decides he has no choice but to take matters into his own hands. He goes to an extent farther than any other father has before. But just how far will this desperate father go to protect his family?

This movie is a thought inducing mystery about memory and identification. ‘Prisoners’ is a white knuckle type movie with violence bloodshed and just a straightforward believable movie. Normally in movies there is a definite line between good and evil. But in this movie the roles are intertwined and even the good characters in the movie turn to be a little twisted, blurring the line between good and bad people.

Let’s face it, after seeing how the police chief acts here, more or less telling Detective Loki to “forget” the prime suspect because there’s no hard evidence against him, it’s no wonder the concurrent searches of his RV and his home are unsuccessful. Well, the vehicle does get a thorough once over, and nothing of significance is found, but that’s beside the point. We hear that the same happens at the home of his Aunt. And yet, there, right out in the middle of the property for all to see, is a weird looking shed and an old muscle car that clearly can still be driven. Are either of these potential crime scenes searched? No they are forgotten and if they would has simple continued to search they would have found the warped boards covering the hole filled with evidence under the old muscle car.

Although it is not my type of movie I found Prisoners to be mesmerizing. When the film ends you might be scratching your head and asking what certain people or events had to do with the plot. I know I have several unanswered questions. Still, this film was about 2 1/2 hours and I never looked at my phone. I thought the acting was superb across the board, and the pacing excellent. Good film to watch during Halloween time because it is creepy for sure.