Movie Review : PRISONERS

I got a text from a movie blogger friend two nights ago, inviting me to a free movie screening night of PRISONERS but honestly, I was not familiar with that movie.
Didn't get the chance to check on reviews and what is it about because I was out the whole day.

Anyway, the story started in a typical family KELLER and GRACE DOVER ( Hugh Jackman and Maria Bello) hanging out with good o'l neighbors FRANKLIN and NANCY BIRCH ( Terrence Howard and Viola Davis) with their kids ANNA DOVER ( Erin Gerasim ) , RALPH DOVER ( Dylan Minette ) and JOY BIRCH ( Kyla-Drew Simmons ) during thanksgiving.

Anna and Joy went out to play but they never came back. DETECTIVE LOKI ( Jake Gyllenhaal ) was the one appointed to investigate their disappearance. Although the only lead was the parked RV right outside their home, primary suspect , the driver, ALEX JONES ( PAul Dano ) with a mind of a 10 year old kid was not put to jail for lack of evidence. Frustration sets in. Keller Dover did what every father would do. Find the malefactor.

Written by Aaron Guzikowski, Prisoners' script is superb not just because of the twists and turns of the plot but because of the invisible mechanics of the screenplay. The nail-biting two-handed story follows both keller and Loki on different grounds searching for the missing kids as the film glides back and forth between the 2 sets perfectly.

The true question was , is torture ever justifiable? A gruesome option deployed to every parent's worst nightmare.

The cast was truly remarkable. Hats off to Hugh and Jake. Both equally strong. The film is one of the most intense so far. You will never forget it.

Yeah, it should've been a 5, but it left me hanging in the end and talk about the gruesome way of abducting and torturing.. 4 stars for me.