The part that gave me chills was the father trapped underground and leave you guessing did the cop ever think to check just once to see if the father was alive.
@The Messenger The ending suggests that he does find him. In fact, it was included in an alternate ending, but it was not included in the final cut, and I think for the better. Denis is always about subtlety.
Josephius Sanchez not exactly an amateur - he’s been acting since around age 10. He had a hit cult film Donnie Darko in his teens. I’d say he’s more refined his ability with films like Prisoners, Nocturnal Animals, Zodiac, Brokeback Mountain, and Nightcrawler. All underrated films in my opinion !
One thing you're forgetting about the whistle is the scene in the hospital when the little girl is wheeled in to thank the detective he says " oh I see you've found the whistle" and the mother said no we never found it, this is a new one. Then at the last 30 seconds after he first hears it he shakes his head almost like no it couldn't be then he hears it for sure and I think at that moment he connected the dots and realized Dover was there using the whistle and no doubt found him alive.
@@greengob1iin864 that guy never knew of the whistle. He was so traumatized by his abduction as a child, that he acted and believed he had abducted the girls. To make that true he bought clothes that would fit them and stole clothes of them. He didn't know more than anyone reading the newspaper.
Dude seriously this is a great analogy. I never once thought about that. Gave me chills when I read this. Gonna go back right now on my day off and watch this movie.
It would have been so depressing (as if this movie isn't depressing enough) if he just shook his head, said to him, "eh, it's probably nothing" and drove off.
Ending was perfect. It's not about "Did he find Dover or not". It's pretty obvious Mr. "Everything Matters" wouldn't sleep until he found the source of the whistle. The ending was a question to the audience: "Does Dover deserve to be pardoned for what he did to Alex?". It's still up in the air whether Alex is a twisted psychopath himself. He hurt the dog for no reason and showed zero remorse or sympathy towards the girls predicament. The movie is over in 2 seconds if he just says where the girls are, but he takes a beating instead.
He's practically autistic, Alex was told to have the iq of a 10 year old while in the body of a 20ish year old guy, so no the ending is not a question it's an answer, to show that even tho not completely evil and wrong Keller deserve all that happened to himself, yet again cus his actions were somewhat justifiable (even if just a little) he eventually got saved
@@michaeltagor4238 remember the unreliable narration tho. the aunt is the one who says alex has low IQ, there is reason to suspect she could be lying. and like the other commenter said, alex did hurt that dog. he's not autistic, he's antisocial. but that doesn't mean that keller 'deserves' what happened to him. i think the point of the movie is that people should NOT take law into their own hands and give people 'what they deserve.'
Alex was being fed that combination of drugs that made him catatonic to everything going on around him. Being fed that every day, for over 20 years since you are a young child. It causes damage to the brain that can never be fully recovered. Not to mention his social and intellectual development that a normal child would get was completely taken away from him. Alex doesn't feel anything at all because he is barely even a person. I am in disbelief at the number of people who see the movie and completely miss the point about his character.
What I found the funniest in this film is how Keller's son gets pissed at him in one scene, gets silenced by his father, and then you don't see him for the rest of the film lol
lol His son was ignored throughout the movie. See, his son was supposed to be his closest friend and the one he trusted the most still of the 10ish characters this movie has, he's the less important one.
Just because he hasn't won Oscars doesn't make him underrated. Anyone who watches film knows and respects him immensely. Plenty of people do, including his peers.
One thing I noticed is that the "fading to black" effect only happens whenever a prisoner is rescued/taken in in this movie (the movie cuts straight to another scene every other time). It happens at 4 points in this movie: 1. when Bob Taylor was arrested 2. when Barry/Alex was found by Loki 3. when Anna was taken to the hospital 4. at the end, when Loki heard Keller's whistle I thought it's pretty neat
@@jensb3946 It was actually true. All of the character in this movie are prisoners. Jake's character was a prisoner to the case. Hugh's character was a prisoner to himself. Hugh's wife chatacter was a prisoner to her emotions. Dano's character was a prisoner to his not so "aunt". The aunt's character was a prisoner to his husband and the "kidnapping thing"
Devita Hardijanto If you’re counting shit like ”a prisoner to her emotions” than yeah, I guess they were all prisoners. But that’s just overanalyzing, like if that’s true than everyone is a prisoner in real life, I guess I am a prisoner to my addiction to sugar.
It's worth noting that, according to an interview with Gyllenhaal I read, they actually filmed Loki moving the car, lifting the plywood cover and discovering a half-dead Dover in the hole. The final shot of the film would've been them wordlessly locking eyes, with a "troubled" expression on Loki's face. The filmmakers decided to cut it very late in the process. I guess stuff like this proves that the expression "movies are made in the editing room" is actually true.
@@camdonking1919 I'm not sure, but I don't think he was debating leaving him there. I almost wonder if it was Loki seeing this strong father, reduced to a mess, who had tortured a young man, and was probably going to prison for a long time and realizing the emotional toll the case had taken on both of them.
camdon king prolly trouble cause he half dead and shot in a hole and is a missing persons case as well and maybe cause she beat Alex to a pulp too so Loki like damn it’s you
@@1000aaronaaronaaron I think this video does a good job of explaining it. The film is a slow burn, and another emotional rescue wasn't needed, and doesn't fit in with the sombre tone of the film, and finding Dover wouldn't even have been a great ending knowing what he'll have to face. We didn't need to see it - we know Loki, so we know Dover will be found. But to each their own, and I get what you're saying, it is a polarising film for sure.
That's a fair point, but they're pretty different works altogether. I wish David Fincher would direct a film adaptation of Heavy Rain so we could see the story to it's fullest cinematic potential.
Actually bought heavy rain again after watching prisoners for the 3rd time yesterday, it's been 4 years since i last finished heavy rain so this should be interesting, it's hard to compare games to movies but it must ring true seeing as the first thing i thought of at the credits was heavy rain lol
I'm sure that Loki saves Dover. As in the beginning we are told Loki always finishes his cases and find the culprits and in the movie he finally saves Anna. Now in the hospital when Dover wife asks him whether he would be able to find Dover, after minor second pauses and thinking Loki says: Yeah. So finally he must have found him..
The scene where he is taking Anna to the hospital and is successful I jumped outta my chair screaming with joy The whole film was tense but that scene particularly holy shit that was so stressful
Denis Villeneuve is by far my favourite director, and clearly going to go down in history as one of the greatest directors of all time: not as the "next Spielberg" or the "next Kubrick" or the "next Coppola", but just as "Villeneuve".
Honestly don't know why this never got an Oscar. This is clearly one of the best films ever made in my lifetime. Certainly the best performance of HJ I've seen.
I think that he is found, he keeps his leg, the gunshot wound is in the lower thigh and didn't hit his femoral artery, or else he would have died much sooner. He will spend some time behind bars, but not nearly as much as someone who committed the same crime out of malevolence. The judge and prosecutor would empathize with his situation, while also realizing he had to be punished, and he likely would have gotten something in the range of 3-7 years. I seriously doubt he would have lost his family. They would understand why he did it, and would stand by him. That's my logical conclusion.
Agree also Loki (jake) would have not returned to the Photo frame if Dover hadnt tortured Alex in first place. So Dover saved his daughter. Also he had gotten shot in leg by aunt which means he got found out first and wasnt involved in kidnapping but saving his loved daughter.
He definitely getting more than 7 years for kidnapping and torturing somebody, it doesn’t matter why. The dude ended up being completely innocent in the end anyways and was realized to be a victim himself. So the judge won’t care about Hugh jack mans reasoning.
Symbolically he lost his family and faith in the pursuit of saving his daughter. The question is whether or not he can regain it, he prays while in the hole in an attempt to regain his faith, but whether or not he does (gets rescued by loki) is left open.
Also a small thing that you didn’t mention, that really adds logistics to the end: the director purposefully includes a shot of the police excavation team turning off the stereo they were listening to. The stereo would have negated the team from hearing the whistle themselves.
There's also the symbolism of the whistle itself. It stands for facing up to the truth. To "blow the whistle" is to speak out against injustice, to call it out. In the story, as long as the truth wasn't faced up to, the characters were kept imprisoned in one way or another. Hugh Jackman's character in particular has to blow the whistle on his own self in order save his life. Although a God-fearing man, he's gone far from the right path, captive to his obsession. It's ruined his psyche, his emotions, his relationships - and his position in the darkness of the pit literalises his spiritual imprisonment.
anthtan To me, the whistle represents faith in other people. Keller clearly values self-reliance, as evidenced by his disaster preparedness and his monologue to his son at the beginning of the movie. Thus, he doesn't like having to rely on other people, as evidenced by his discomfort at having to sit back and let the police do their job, even before their ineptitude had become clear. However, at the end, he can't do anything to save himself, and can only blow the whistle and have faith that someone will hear it and find him. Whether or not that faith is well placed depends on whether Loki finds him or not after the cut to black.
You make some good points but I think you missed mentioning the most important symbolic gesture this technique makes. The movie has a lot of religious themes, the main one being that the kidnappers steal children in order to steal their parents' faith. By the end of the movie it seems, for the most part, that things have worked out for the best. The children are safe, but the main question is what has it cost Dover. Did the kidnapper succeed in robbing him of his faith, and of his goodness. In this last scene Dover is literally in the ground, signalling for help, but he is also figuratively underground in a spiritual sense. He is in hell, signalling for help and redemption. That last shot, focusing on Gyllenhall's face, transposes how we all react to people who have done wrong, and how hard it can be for us to hear/find them for who they are. Just a thought, and probably a pretty corny interpretation if I were to read it again, but I think it's something that should be mentioned.
This is excellent. Also, Dover listens to Christian radio stations on his truck radio as well, letting the viewer know that Keller is a religious man. That hole was most certainly symbolic of hell for Dover. I have said elsewhere, though, that I don't think he has much to feel bad about, but maybe I'm fundamentally more like Dover than I realized.
Maybe at the end when he blows the whistle signals his recognition of how far he has gone and he’s looking for redemption, to be saved. One last cry for someone to help him.
Loki (jake) would have not returned to the Photo frame if Dover hadnt tortured Alex in first place. So Dover saved his daughter. Alex could have told earlier but he didnt which cost him more pain.
I still to this day don't know how Gyllenhaal and Jackman did not get nominated for an Oscar for their roles. Jake was also great in Nightcrawler but was also not nominated. Prisoners was an emotionally exhausting film but man it was so GOOD!
This movie was godcdamn brilliant. From Gyllenhaal blink twitching, showing the ripped apart family's from the kidnapping and how far desperation pushes the average person, just brilliant
Great video man. Well thought out, analysed, paced, edited, narrated. Really good. Thanks for this man. This film for me is something that is becoming more and more rare; and you described it perfectly. Thank you.
I didn't think Jackman's character blowing the whistle signified resilience. I thought of it as him coming to terms with what he's done. I think it would be easy to fall apart after having done something like that to an innocent person, a victim even. To blow the whistle is to declare that he's still worth something, deserves to and wants to live.
Alex was a victim (in part), but very far from innocent. Additionally, Keller's instincts were right: Alex took the girls (though he didn't intend to keep them), knew where they were being held (his house), and knew what was happening to them (drugged, prisoners, eventually they would be murdered and disappeared). Some of these details were unknown to Keller (importantly the "Aunt's" involvement and the twist of Alex being abducted himself as a child), but Keller had the right guy while the cops flailed. Alex withheld information from Keller and the authorities, brazenly lied, played dumb, and glibly antagonized Keller (on more than one occasion). Alex was also willing to slash Keller, Nancy, and Franklin with the broken glass to escape, rather than do the right thing and reveal the location of the girls. Keller on the other hand only did one thing wrong: he should have started his interrogation with waterboarding.
this movie shock me to the core, the way the characters develope and the pain they go through is uncanny. what they did to the mentally ill kid terrified the shit out of me.
Everything about this movie is great, the soundtrack, the cast, the writing, the pacing, the overall dreading vibe to it..we don't get movies like this anymore
Wow after watchin Arrival and Enemy I realise how good director Denis is. His films are very mysterious and different from each othrr. Awesome director.
Denis is a brilliant film maker, I would say quickly becoming an all time great. What is sad, is how overlooked his movies are in the grand scheme of things, but his films are astounding. An underrated master.
Jake is such a great actor and one of the most underrated too. I personally think hes up there with Heath Ledger, Christian Bale, Mathew McConaughey, Leonardo Dicaprio but to me it seems he isnt nearly as famous as them
What makes this one of my favorite movies is how strikingly realistic it is. The acting is so good you forget your watching a movie. When you consider the topic of this movie it is no wonder why this movie was not more popular ... it is so well done it is truly disturbing.
One of my favorite movies with many of my favorite actors. Gyllenhaal doesn't get nearly enough credit. The guy is a fucking incredible actor in anything he does. He learns as much as he can before any role and studies as much as he can. He's dedicated and that's rare these days.
There is also the obvious fact that Villeneuve never gives us that moment of catharsis in any scenes. For example he doesn't show us Loki deliver the kidnapped girl after the dramatic race to the hospital. This cutting away at the end would make no sense if it was the only time Villeneuve used it in the film. He sets it up throughout the movie. It is only good story telling because he gets us used to the idea as the story unfolds.
Indeed. And perhaps there is no catharsis because such awful experiences of trauma don't easily get resolved or fixed. One of the great things about the ending is that, after two hours of wanting to see things resolved - to breathe a sigh of relief - we are left without a final resolution. Much like the characters in the film.
vivthefree also, the locket in the film, the final puzzle, the side character detective says he tried to solve it but it’s impossible, there’s no ending. Genius.
dennis villanueva does this almost in all his films which make them so intriguing and memorable. Look at blade runner 2049 ending. some similarities there. he knows how to mesh great stories with strong character development. its like he has the perfect formula for a perfect film.
In an interview with screenwriter Aaron Guzikowski it is explained that an ending where Keller is found by Loki was actually filmed, but was deliberately decided against in favour of a more ambiguous ending: On the decision to end the movie with a cliffhanger: “Oddly enough, that’s how it was in the script when it was bought. And it never really changed. When we were shooting, we did shoot a version where it goes a little beyond where the fade out is. There’s a version where he moves the car and sees Hugh down there, and so on. None of us really wanted to do that version, but we wanted to make sure we had it in case once the film was put together it seemed like it really needed it. But after testing the film with the ending it has now, everyone decided that was definitely the way to go. Joel Cox, the editor, felt very strongly about it. I just think that’s the moment when the movie is ready to end.” And the ending that was shot but didn’t get used was… “They move the car. They see he’s down there. You know he’s going to be taken out of the hole. I like it much better being ambiguous. Even though you assume that’s what’s probably going to happen, I like that there’s a small chance that he’s not going to get him out of there for whatever reason.”
Brilliant breakdown. This movie did an amazing job at creating believable 'red herrings' and not just one of them. The ending always struck me as such a great way to end this story and the acting throughout the film was riveting.
He work with David fincher and Ang Lee. And that’s good. He was also in a MCU movie. He need also another Oscar nomination. Because most of his movies are underrated or made by not known director. Great movies, perfomance and director, but just sooo underrated
Hugh Jackman proves how such a great actor he is in this movie. But also Jake Gyllenhaal is amazing. Prisoners, Night Crawler, South Paw, Nocturnal Animals, Brokeback Mountain, Donnie Darko, End of Watch, Zodiac... he's brilliant in all of them.
This movie always gets me. It’s so good across the board. I can actually imagine a future where Loki is at family cookouts. He saves him in the end. Can imagine the lifelong bond that would create?
I feel this analysis missed the most important part of the 30 seconds. It keeps the Jackman character in a symbolic state of purgatory. The question is raised if whether he will escape that spiritual hole which the entire ordeal of losing his children has brought upon his being.
Since dover was shot in the leg that means he found about the girls way before cops and was right from the start. Actually, he helped in finding his daughter because if he wouldnt have tortured alex the detective would have not returned to photo frame and connected the dots. Amazing movie time well spent.
Loki found him and save him. In his trial, the jury and the Judge will definitely have compassion for him and will gave him something like 2-3 years in jail (he will go out after half of that time). He will not lose his family for sure (you can tell that if you remember what his wife said to Loki in the hospital). No way story can be any different than this :D
Great video. The movie was phenomenal and the ending was perfect. It delivered on the “happy“ ending while still maintaining the expected gripping/tense theme constantly delivered though the movie.
I feel that there is a major theme of being “saved” through the film. Who is the saviour, and who needs to be saved. Gyllenhaal saving his career/reputation as well as the girls. Jackman obviously saving his daughter but also saving his sanity and needing to be saved from himself. I feel the whistle placed Jackman back into the needing saving category, and the ending leaving us with the question of just whether or not Jackman was too far gone to be saved or not. Excellent film.
Top 1 for Netflix now ! I cried watching this ! May all the children’s that have been taken for no reasons be in peace 😭😭 No child deserves this ! God we need you ❤️❤️❤️❤️
Wow, Fantastic video Perry. I have to admit, this is without a doubt, my all time favorite movie! :) I think part of it does have to do with the ending:) what happens? Does he go to jail? I would have loved to see him hug his little daughter at the end. He was her true hero. I can't watch other movies anymore because they are just not up to par with this amazing story telling and suspense driven passion behind the film. Keep it up. Thank you so much for explaining how amazing the last 30 seconds are.
oh you know he went to jail..no matter the circumstances or what ever the other people did to deserve it he still kidnapped someone and tortured him. In the eyes of the law they don't care what your reasons were even if everyone else in that room would do the same thing as a father. The law is the law and he broke it.
guitarman0365 Jail...yes....prison...doubtful. As it's a crime of passion, and the DA would have to decide to prosecute since the Paul Dano character is not mentally capable. That's if he even survived.
Thank you so much for this detailed analysis. I have shown this film to multiple people over the years and I think it’s a masterclass in acting and storytelling.
His eye tics in this movie are one of my favorite subtle details an actor has done to change their character ever-so-slightly. Like yeah that’s Gyllenhaal with a neck tattoo and greasy haircut but the tic gave his character that extra bit of depth for whatever reason. Need more of those subtle mannerisms from actors.
I slept on this movie up until a couple years ago. When I saw it I was blown away. This was one of best, most well told stories that literally kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time. This film really knows how to pull not only at your emotions but on your own moral fiber. I don't remember if this movie won any awards but it should've.
I absolutely agree with you. I get what the filmmakers where trying to get across, but the ending was a lot of wasted potential. The rest of the film is astounding though.
We watched this movie at the end of the year on my forensics class and everyone didn't want to leave to their next class. I had already seen it by this time and new how great it was. Seeing them not only want to stay and keep watching but for them to not be talking as much made me love it even more
This video showed up on my reccomendations, I watched the movie before watching this video and I couldn’t be more satisfied, it is an outstanding film.
Really interesting take! One interesting point about the red whistle I think you might have overlooked. The resilient search for the girls and kidnapper mirrors the girl's search for the red whistle at the very beginning of the film, which were the catalyst for the events in the movie. It's a symbol of hope and not giving up, even though it seems gone for good. Therefore it is very fitting it is the thing that saves him at the end of the movie, ending his search for what seemed certainly lost.