Post by Rob W. Case on Apr 23, 2014 19:11:51 GMT -6
Imagine if your child ended up missing. How would you feel? At what length would you go to find them? What would you do if you were sure that a certain someone kidnapped them? The movie “Prisoners” not only makes you think about that question, but also raises awareness in light of situations like this of the dynamics of evil and how they work in the backdrop.
The Story:
Keller Dover (Hugh Jackman) and his family are having thanksgiving with his friend Franklin (Terrance Howard) and his family. While their two youngest girls go to play outside together, they end up missing. When Keller finds out that his daughter is missing, he frantically tries to find her. Feeling defenseless and helpless, while short on patience, Keller falls prisoner to his assumptions and begins to take matters into his own hands. In that, the status of the missing girls, breakthroughs in the case that suggest that they might have been killed, and the fact that the police can only do what is in the confines of the law sets off a chain of actions and reactions (triggered by emotions and assumptions) that holds everyone involved (directly and indirectly) prisoner to their own weaknesses, anxieties, fears, and even sense of effectiveness and purpose, which in turn imposes problems (some which may be perceived) on others. In that, you have a very thought provoking view of evil and how it can spawn off into other evils and form a sort of “Labyrinth”, or a complicated “maze” involving mindsets weighed down with feelings of hopelessness, clues that lead nowhere, and breakthroughs that offer a glimmer of hope, but may not be real.
A Dark Spiritual Dynamic at Play:
As the days move forward, and the chances of finding the two girls alive gets less and less likely, desperation takes over Keller’s mind so much so that he loses his composure and rationalizes and justifies what he is about to do to the person who appears to him most likely to have kidnapped the girls. And after the moments pass, significant damage is done, and the “mask” that the kidnapper utilizes for protection wears off, the kidnapper admits to Dover the motives behind the actions. The kidnapper states that, “making children disappear is the war we wage with God. [It] makes people lose their faith. [It] turns them into demons like you.” And through those chilling words, the audience member can review the events of the film and see how evil and darkness mixed with fear, anxiety, and helplessness consequentially lead, in a suspenseful way, to the actions and conclusions that make this film interesting.
My Take:
One of the things I like about this film is that it is unpredictable. It plays on your assumptions, and in empathizing with the main characters, you get a small glimpse of how easy it would be to fall into those mindsets in the midst of the circumstances that provide the overall backdrop of this film. In that, this movie can be appropriately classified as a psychological thriller, suspense, and mystery. In that, not only does it keep itself interesting, but it can lead to many thought provoking insights as well.
Out of 4 stars I give Prisoners 4 stars.
The movie is rated R and runs approximately 2 hours and 33 Minutes
To view a trailer for the movie, please click below.
The movie is available on DVD/Bluray and currently located at Redbox kiosk machines.
The Story:
Keller Dover (Hugh Jackman) and his family are having thanksgiving with his friend Franklin (Terrance Howard) and his family. While their two youngest girls go to play outside together, they end up missing. When Keller finds out that his daughter is missing, he frantically tries to find her. Feeling defenseless and helpless, while short on patience, Keller falls prisoner to his assumptions and begins to take matters into his own hands. In that, the status of the missing girls, breakthroughs in the case that suggest that they might have been killed, and the fact that the police can only do what is in the confines of the law sets off a chain of actions and reactions (triggered by emotions and assumptions) that holds everyone involved (directly and indirectly) prisoner to their own weaknesses, anxieties, fears, and even sense of effectiveness and purpose, which in turn imposes problems (some which may be perceived) on others. In that, you have a very thought provoking view of evil and how it can spawn off into other evils and form a sort of “Labyrinth”, or a complicated “maze” involving mindsets weighed down with feelings of hopelessness, clues that lead nowhere, and breakthroughs that offer a glimmer of hope, but may not be real.
A Dark Spiritual Dynamic at Play:
As the days move forward, and the chances of finding the two girls alive gets less and less likely, desperation takes over Keller’s mind so much so that he loses his composure and rationalizes and justifies what he is about to do to the person who appears to him most likely to have kidnapped the girls. And after the moments pass, significant damage is done, and the “mask” that the kidnapper utilizes for protection wears off, the kidnapper admits to Dover the motives behind the actions. The kidnapper states that, “making children disappear is the war we wage with God. [It] makes people lose their faith. [It] turns them into demons like you.” And through those chilling words, the audience member can review the events of the film and see how evil and darkness mixed with fear, anxiety, and helplessness consequentially lead, in a suspenseful way, to the actions and conclusions that make this film interesting.
My Take:
One of the things I like about this film is that it is unpredictable. It plays on your assumptions, and in empathizing with the main characters, you get a small glimpse of how easy it would be to fall into those mindsets in the midst of the circumstances that provide the overall backdrop of this film. In that, this movie can be appropriately classified as a psychological thriller, suspense, and mystery. In that, not only does it keep itself interesting, but it can lead to many thought provoking insights as well.
Out of 4 stars I give Prisoners 4 stars.
The movie is rated R and runs approximately 2 hours and 33 Minutes
To view a trailer for the movie, please click below.
The movie is available on DVD/Bluray and currently located at Redbox kiosk machines.