Review of Prisoners (2013) by Kglnyc — 21 Sep 2013

I wanted to like this movie much more than I did the actors do a fine job and the direction has its merit. Problem is that it's such a heavy-handed allegory about a post-9/11 America grappling with the ethics of revenge vs.

justice, a holy war, and use/effects of "rendition"/torture against innocents and perhaps not-so-innocents. That some audience members laughed at some of the moments that were meant to be terrifying convinced me either the public has developed a callous jadedness towards these very important issues or the film is clumsy in how it tackles them.

This wasn't a "bad" film, just one that could've used fewer nonsensical twists-and-turns that too nicely allow an allegorical frame for what at its heart is about the terrifying idea of how innocence can be lost to random evil.