Movie: Prisoners

[David J. W.]

I saw the movie "Prisoners" yesterday and I thought it was pretty good. A thought I had about the movie was that the title was well chosen because children, even those who are not kidnapped, are not in their situations voluntarily. The movie, I think, showed the massive power parents have over their children by having a plot based around abducted children.

 

There is more to the movie than that, these are just some initial thoughts of mine.

 

Has anyone else in this forum seen the movie and if so what are your thoughts?

 

Also, do you think my short analysis is correct? I would really like to read an analysis of this movie by someone else on this forum.

[Wuzzums]

I believe the intention of the movie was to show how far parents would go towards protecting their children. It's a "did he or didn't he" kind of movie, so as a viewer you won't be invested in anything else including whether the children are alive or not. Nor does the movie spend any time making you care about the children. We don't even know anything about them other than they're little girls. What really bothered me about it was the motivation of the villain which was pretty much non-existent other than to drive the plot along.

[David J. W.]

That makes more sense than what I came up with. Thanks for that. I guess I was focusing on other aspects of the film when I made my post.

[Longshot]

I think the theme of the movie is to be prepared for anything, hence the Doomsday Prepper, like sweet old ladies being psychopaths & never losing your faith. Not necessarily faith in the divine but too never give up faith looking for your kids. And if you are a parent then you can relate to the plot. Also the movie suggests rigorous study in solving mazes.

Good movie.

[cynicist]

Warning, spoilers ahead! 

 

 

While I loved watching Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhal act in that movie, I wasn't a fan of it myself. I thought the bit around the guy they made to look like a pedophile who was actually an abducted kid trying to piece together what happened to him at the hands of his tormenters was pretty powerful. Reminds me of the repetitive cycles we can get stuck in while trying to understand our own histories. (though obviously not as traumatic, dear god) At first I was creeped out by him but towards the end I felt so bad for him and how Gyllenhal (as a cop of course) had abused him further while trying to figure out the maze connection.

 

Other than that it seemed to be the typical "anything for the children even if violence is necessary" propaganda. There is little exploration into how these evil people came to be or what effect the experience had on the people involved. I would like to see what Stefan thought of it, but I'm not sure I would recommend that he watch it lol. (the brutality was alarming to me, even given the circumstances since Jackman had no way to know anything for certain about that kid)

[Cornellius]

My first impression was that the movie would be like The Purge, giving cynics their desired relief from thinking the world can be free by painting insanity as endless and inescapable. Does the movie encompass that kind of cynicism? Haven't watched it yet.

[cynicist]

My first impression was that the movie would be like The Purge, giving cynics their desired relief from thinking the world can be free by painting insanity as endless and inescapable. Does the movie encompass that kind of cynicism? Haven't watched it yet.

 

To some degree. The main themes in my opinion were: the limits that people (particularly the parent) will go to when children's lives are at stake, how gut instinct/feeling is as valid as reason, and how you better be prepared because there are evil people out there and random bad stuff can go down at any moment. There is some attempt to explain motivation but it's fairly shallow. Also, there are some brutal parts but the movie is not as depressing or futile as the trailer suggests.

[Michael Marsh]

That movie left a bad taste in my mouth on a very fundamental level. It was undoubtedly a superbly acted and directed thriller, which had me on the edge of my seat the whole time, but also had me viscerally disturbed and unsettled throughout most of it, with very little relief at the end.

 

<spoilers>

The brutal torture of the character Paul Dano's character "Alex" by Hugh Jackman's character was gut-wrenchingly difficult to watch, even when I as an audience member was convinced that Alex had done something terrible to the children. It was made infinitely worse in retrospect by the revelation that Alex had been a victim himself for the last 10 years of the same traumatic treatment the children captured by the old lady were currently receiving.

 

When the movie was over (after that little girl just barely survived her lethal injection), I couldn't help but think that the old lady had "won": Alex has his mental growth stunted and was subject to unbelievable trauma, the younger children are burdened with their terrifying experience, and Hugh Jackman, although he "survived", will  forever be haunted by the realization of the senseless brutality he inflicted with his own hands.

</spoilers>

 

While watching "Prisoners" was undoubtedly a powerful emotional experience for me and the friends I was watching it with, I don't think I could recommend that anyone else watch it, since the emotions invoked were overwhelmingly negative.