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Prisoners

Play trailer Poster for Prisoners R Released Sep 20, 2013 2h 33m Mystery & Thriller Crime Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
81% Tomatometer 250 Reviews 87% Popcornmeter 100,000+ Ratings
Keller Dover (Hugh Jackman) faces a parent's worst nightmare when his 6-year-old daughter, Anna, and her friend go missing. The only lead is an old motorhome that had been parked on their street. The head of the investigation, Detective Loki (Jake Gyllenhaal), arrests the driver (Paul Dano), but a lack of evidence forces Loki to release his only suspect. Dover, knowing that his daughter's life is at stake, decides that he has no choice but to take matters into his own hands.
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Prisoners

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Critics Consensus

Prisoners has an emotional complexity and a sense of dread that makes for absorbing (and disturbing) viewing.

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Critics Reviews

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Kate Stables Sight & Sound Guzikowski's well-honed thriller occasionally idles under Villeneuve's dark character studies, but the director's powerfully imposed mood of dread elevates what might otherwise have been just a superior police procedural. Jul 31, 2018 Full Review Jason Bailey Flavorwire An increasingly sloppy thriller, filled with obvious clues, laughable red herrings, and halfhearted "shock" reveals, played at a snail's pace that lets far too much air into the narrative. Jun 19, 2016 Full Review Chris Stuckmann ChrisStuckmann.com This film haunted me for days and weeks after seeing it, and the feeling still lingers. Rated: A+ Apr 17, 2015 Full Review Miles Surrey The Ringer The tense thriller that put its director on the map... Sep 29, 2023 Full Review Iván Kazi EscribiendoCine While the resolution is close to being predictable... the movie's strong suit is something else. The process, the content, and the journey are profoundly immersive. [Full review in Spanish] Rated: 8/10 Dec 7, 2022 Full Review Keith Garlington Keith & the Movies “Prisoners” offers some slick foreboding, crafty twists, and a satisfying ending. Rated: 4/5 Aug 24, 2022 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Nashville I. One of the better suspense-inducing scripts in a long time. Before he was the Dune guy, Villaneuve did this very organic mystery that also managed to insert a couple ridiculous smart plot twists in the middle. The ending made perfect sense, but it was also camoflaged perfectly. One of the best mysteries you could ever watch. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 07/17/25 Full Review Arjun l Decent film but it can be slow at some parts of the film as not much really happens Rated 3 out of 5 stars 07/17/25 Full Review tururu t A really good thriller, loved the actors, especially Gyllenhaal. There are several interesting moments in the movie, but the parts between them are a little bland, it is also a bit slow placed. Really good watch, a bit underrated in my opinion. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 07/16/25 Full Review Troy R Honestly, I get that it is maybe trying to give off the theme of how helpless everyone can feel when dealing with a kidnapping scenario, but the extremes it takes this to makes the film feel slow and pointless. Det. Loki spends the whole movie wasting his time and not connecting the information he is getting, despite being "the best detective ever who never has failed to solve a case", and at times outright saying he thinks there is a connection, then never following up. Meanwhile Keller spends the whole film torturing himself and his captive, trying to figure out what he can do. Ultimately the film ends with no one on screen figuring anything out and the ending being more of a "oops we found the killer" than a movie about good detective work. And for 2.5hr long film that sucks. Acting is pretty good, but not these actor's best. Also to the name of the film... why? Is it supposed to be a reference to how everyone affected by the kidnapping is prisoner to it? Or was it just a simple 1 word title that vaguely made sense? I mean seemed to me like they could have call it something relating to the serial kidnapper and would have felt like it made a lot more sense. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 07/15/25 Full Review Casha M This is a masterpiece Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 07/14/25 Full Review Stoner J Fantastic imprisonment revenge movie from start to finish. I wish the ending was more complete, I’d have to give it 5 of 5 Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 07/13/25 Full Review Read all reviews
Prisoners

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Movie Info

Synopsis Keller Dover (Hugh Jackman) faces a parent's worst nightmare when his 6-year-old daughter, Anna, and her friend go missing. The only lead is an old motorhome that had been parked on their street. The head of the investigation, Detective Loki (Jake Gyllenhaal), arrests the driver (Paul Dano), but a lack of evidence forces Loki to release his only suspect. Dover, knowing that his daughter's life is at stake, decides that he has no choice but to take matters into his own hands.
Director
Denis Villeneuve
Producer
Broderick Johnson, Kira Davis, Andrew A. Kosove, Adam Kolbrenner
Screenwriter
Aaron Guzikowski
Distributor
Warner Bros.
Production Co
8:38 Productions, Madhouse Entertainment
Rating
R (Language Throughout|Disturbing Violent Content|Torture)
Genre
Mystery & Thriller, Crime, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Sep 20, 2013, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
May 10, 2015
Box Office (Gross USA)
$61.0M
Runtime
2h 33m
Sound Mix
Datasat, SDDS, Dolby Digital
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