Detective Loki (Jake Gyllenhaal) in the police station in 'Prisoners.' Image via Warner Bros. Pictures Add Collider on Google Add as Preferred Source Follow on Google Discover By Erik Hawkins Published Nov 7, 2026, 12:08 AM EST Erik Hawkins is an award-winning writer and editor who's been obsessed with cinema since he was old enough to hold Roger Ebert's Video Home Companion in his hands. He lives in NYC, where he rabidly watches everything from the newest releases to the more odd and obscure, and regularly shares his thoughts on Letterboxd. From ghost-writing fiction and webisodes in South America to local news, trial coverage, and politics in NYC, he's rarely put down his laptop over the past 15 years. Sign in to your Collider account Summary Generate a summary of this story Like Like follow Follow followed Followed Listen Thread Log in Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recap A 150-minute-plus, dark-as-night kidnapping thriller isn't an instant recipe for box office success, yet Denis Villeneuve 's 2013 film Prisoners handily made almost three times its budget back, while also landing on numerous year-end Top 10 lists. And the sprawling, dour crime film is still proving to have legs, as it's currently rocketing up the charts on Apple TV.
While Prisoners doesn't have any actual supernatural elements, Villeneuve and master cinematographer Roger Deakins ( Blade Runner 2049 , The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford ) conjure such an enveloping atmosphere of menace that when villainous characters who may actually be related to a Satanic cult are introduced, it doesn't come as much of a shock at all. The film is long, unpleasantly themed, and generally hopeless. It's also a modern masterpiece, and currently receiving its due ahead of Villeneuve's eagerly anticipated Dune Part Three .
Jake Gyllenhaal in 'Prisoners' (2013) Image via Warner Bros. The story of Prisoners actually dates back to 2009, when Aaron Guzikowski penned a script based on his own short story, making that year's Black List. It was shopped around to stars and directors, reportedly including Leonardo DiCaprio and Antoine Fuqua , before landing in the capable hands of Denis Villeneuve . Fresh off the critically acclaimed (and extremely dark) dramatic thrillers Polytechnique and Incendies , Villeneuve proved the perfect match for the story of suburban Connecticut dad Keller Dover ( Hugh Jackman ), whose young daughter, along with his neighbor's child, vanishes into thin air on a chilly Thanksgiving. While Jake Gyllenhaal 's Detective Loki works the case, Dover takes matters into his own hands.
Prisoners takes on an even darker tone once Dover becomes convinced that a young man with an intellectual disability, played masterfully by Paul Dano , is the culprit and takes matters into his own hands. Torture, amateur investigation, false leads, and an apparent occult kidnapping conspiracy dating back decades take over the final half, as the film keeps viewers' hearts pounding for over two and a half hours.
Image via Warner Bros. Pictures Keller Dover (Hugh Jackman) talking to Detective Loki (Jake Gyllenhaal) in 'Prisoners.' Image via Warner Bros. Pictures Keller (Hugh Jackman) pins down Alex (Paul Dano) in 'Prisoners'. Image via Warner Bros. Hugh Jackman swings a hammer at Paul Dano in 'Prisoners' Image via Warner Bros. Pictures Bob Taylor (David Dastmalch…