Playlist : Telluride Review: 'Prisoners'
Featuring a terrific supporting cast, everyone brings their A-Game, but Bello as the destroyed mother and Davis as the matriarch who puts her faith in Dover, are especially strong. “Prisoners” is difficult, wrenching subject matter, and it will be interesting to see how audiences (and Oscar voters for that matter) respond. The picture is often graphic and pulls no punches in its disturbing violence, but its unflinching nature gives it a memorable sear that won't soon be forgotten. A first-rate thriller with a blackened bite, “Prisoners” may not be the easiest or most escapist sit for the casual moviegoer, but it’s this kind of filmmaking and storytelling that brings folks like us flocking to the theaters year after year. [B+/A-]
Variety : Telluride Film Review: ‘Prisoners’'
The wages of sin, guilt, vengeance and redemption weigh heavy on the characters of “Prisoners,” a spellbinding, sensationally effective thriller with a complex moral center that marks a grand-slam English-lingo debut for the gifted Quebecois director Denis Villeneuve. Powered by an unusually rich, twisty script by Aaron Guzikowski (“Contraband”) and career-best performances from Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal,