Prisoners (2013)

Oscar-nominated director Denis Villeneuve gives us this new thriller in which the most important question that needs to be asked is: how far would you go for your children? 

Jake Gyllenhall and Hugh Jackman star in this film about two young’s girls who go missing; every parents worst nightmare. When the only suspect is released due to a lack of evidence, Jackman’s character Dover takes matters into his own hands. 

The film is a disturbing crime thriller that is elevated by subtle storytelling, challenging ideas and fine performances. The films does not only hold the viewer’s focus to the very end, but also manages to do so in a genuinely innovative yet comfortingly reasonable way. 

The whole film is blew and grey, creating pathetic fallacy: the weather is continuously matching the mood of the film. Through this, even the most seemingly benign scenes posses a low level of fear, and the final hour is heavy enough to leave audiences shaking. It is engaging and gut-wrenching that does not drive into an abyss of emotional torture in the name of entertainment.

Prisoners unfolds with slackening tension and it is impossible to ignore the fact that you are looking at unspeakable cruelty which, even if justifiable, must ruin the soul of the welder. You do expect that to become the theme but, surprisingly, it never does. 

If there is one thing above all to recommend Prisoners, it is the way that it captures that white-hot skewer of fear that must run through the heart and mind of every parent who has ever looked around and suddenly thought “Where is my kid?” (And this is coming from someone who has no children!) Above all, it has something that I expect with all thriller films, a brilliant and shocking twist.

8.5/10

The Breakfast Club (1985)

I always feel bad when I come across a film that is known as a “classic” and I have never seen it; I am on a mission to change this! Finally, I have seen the quintessential 80’s high school drama that features the hottest young stars of the decade. The film follows five teens as they are trapped in a day long detention in their prison-like school on a Saturday. The five strangers begin the day with nothing in common yet the students bond when faced agains the villainous principal and a contempt for adult society.

The Breakfast Club does not need earthshaking revelations; it is about kids who grow willing to talk to one another, and it has a surprisingly good ear for the way that they speak. The film captures teenagers’ innate ability to defeat authority figures, and their own misconceptions about themselves. The Breakfast Club is one of the few teen-oriented films that truly addresses the troubles of its characters, yet it falters in dealing with the issues raised. 

The Breakfast Club was teen-auteur John Hughes’ attempt to take a step back and evaluate the large horde of teens in schools and how they turn out, and also how they desperately search for identity. In equal parts the film is funny, smart and sincere. It is a film that delved a little deeper into the teenage psyche and came back with something more challenging then “nerds want sex”.

Anyone who has even been to high school can relate to at least one of these kids.

8/10