Prisoners

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Prisoners

R

2013

2h 33m

Mystery & Thriller

Crime

Drama

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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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Critics Consensus

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

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Kate Stables

Sight & Sound

Jul 31, 2018

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.

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Jason Bailey

Flavorwire

Jun 19, 2016

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.

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Chris Stuckmann

ChrisStuckmann.com

Apr 17, 2015

A+

This film haunted me for days and weeks after seeing it, and the feeling still lingers.

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Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

Oct 15, 2026

3.5/4

Prisoners feels like an AMBER Alert writ large, using the queasy notion of missing children as a starting point for its exploration of several issues that aren’t black and white but instead rot away inside a malodorous area of gray.

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Matt Oakes

Silver Screen Riot

Oct 15, 2026

A-

We are captive to the deep digging questions steaming out of the gutters of the film. Questions that we can only answer for ourselves in the vastness of solitude.

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Carla Renata

The Curvy Film Critic

Mar 24, 2026

PRISONERS, however, is the most jaw-dropping thriller I have seen in years! It was absolutely thrilling, spellbinding and kept my attention from beginning to end.

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Calum C

@RT72347511 4 days ago

Strong acting from the cast but felt the story was dragged out a little long at times but overall a good and dramatic story

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Alex P

@TheInfamousLex 6 days ago

Absolutely amazing edge of your seat thriller, top notch acting performances, this will leave you speechless way after the credits. One of the best films ive recently discovered

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Alec H

@alechbt Oct 7, 2026

Prisoners is much more than a mystery. It’s a film about pain, trauma, desperation, and how easily morality can erode when someone believes they’re trying to save a person they love. The movie places the audience in an incredibly uncomfortable position because we hear what Keller hears, which makes it impossible to judge him from a safe distance. The central contrast between a man of faith becoming monstrous through desperation and criminals trying to destroy faith through suffering is especially powerful. Gripping, morally uncomfortable, and incredibly well acted.

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Alex D

@imconcussedsoimnotthinkingstraightrightnow Oct 6, 2026

Best thriller I’ve seen

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William B

@RT88420256 Oct 5, 2026

My favourite film of all time edge of the seat stuff

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Bray D

@braylan Oct 4, 2026

Top 3 thrillers ever made

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Denis Villeneuve

Director

Hugh Jackman

Keller Dover

Jake Gyllenhaal

Det. Loki

Viola Davis

Nancy Birch

Maria Bello

Grace Dover

Terrence Howard

Franklin Birch

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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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