384. Prisoners (2013)

Starring: Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Paul Dano

Director: Denis Villeneuve

Running Time: 153 mins

Prisoners is an American film about a man whose daughter goes missing in suspicious circumstances. However, after he feels that the following police investigation is not doing enough to secure his daughter’s safety, he takes matters into his own hands…

Well, this film was stunning. I found it absolutely horrific from start to finish, yet it was one of the tensest and most thrilling films I’ve seen all year.

I don’t really know where to start with this, however I will say that it is even more harrowing to watch than you think just from the description. I expected a difficult and horrible story, however what also came out was a thrilling and truly intriguing mystery that left you guessing at every second.

The story was very clever in the way it managed to draw you towards thinking that certain outcomes were the truth, however it did this so many times, it became almost impossible to chance a guess at who the kidnapper was, and when it was ultimately revealed, it was so shocking and unthinkable in the context of the story.

From the start of this film, it was evident how difficult it would be to decipher and work out what on earth was going on in this story, however that added so much to the excitement and thrill of it, working like a dream throughout, making it truly fascinating and enthralling to follow along.

Overall, I’ll give this an 8.8 because although it was horrific and harrowing, it was one of the tensest, most exciting, mysterious and fascinating stories I’ve seen all year.

(The worst thing is, this film leaves you at the end with one more thing never solved, which really hit me hard…)