So yea great movie that kind of blew the ending which I mean it doesnt mean much and maybe it isnt meant to be definitive. He responds by shooting her in the head, killing the kidnapper for good. to Keller Junior is that killing is okay because the animal population needs to be maintained. Its Grace who, in the wake of her daughter being stolen, completely falls apart. Regarding Alex. But the important thing is that once youre aware of this motif, you can re-watch the movie and appreciate what it adds to the overall experience of Prisoners and the meaning you derive from it. In Latin, Dubris meant waters. Even though Taylor lives somewhere else, it seems all he thinks about is Holly and her husband. He says hes checking 9 of them. When Loki finds the body in the priests basement, the priest/father explains the man came to confess and spoke proudly about killing 16 children. Though she is not suspected by the police, Alex is, as the girls were seen playing around his RV before the capture. Yeah, Regrading Alex, I guess theres still a lot thats up in the air. It is Villeneuve's first predominantly English-language feature (his prior ones being mainly in French). . | But he is stuck in that child-like mentality and he did know what was going to happen to those kids, like he did with so many others. So he definitely has a cruel streak. They see hes down there. Seems to me that she couldve just opened the door normally and she wouldve gotten away with it, since Loki was only there to tell her about Alex. Police lay murder charge in Holly Jones case. At their first encounter, in the parking lot of the police station, Alex toys with Keller, much like he did the dog, by saying, They didnt cry until I left them. He knew what he was doing. I hope this was helpful. Holly Jones was abducted in her neighbourhood after walking a friend home from school. The big issue every character has is with acceptance. It seems accusatory at first mostly because its confusing. The final song on the album is called Duckworth. Pre-order Price Guarantee. So the priest left the man tied up to die. There are characters named Grace and Joy. Excellent insight, Jasmine! When hes in police custody, the police demand to know where the abducted girls are and Taylor spends 3 hours drawing a maze to show them. What if deep down he DOES want her to go to jail! Hes essentially trapped in being the caretaker for his mom. The best answer I can think of is its been long enough and theyre desperate enough for any lead that they dont question it. When someone goes missing the police investigators always try to establish very carefully how the missing person was dressed! I was so impatient with all the people not talking, but it makes sense now, the priest, bound by his guilt and confession rules, Alex, most likely having been drugged from an early age on which alters your brain and personality, and God knows what else these people did to him and Bob. [3] Right before the altercation with Keller, we witnessed a stare down between Alex and Loki after Loki had spent hours belittling, demeaning, and flexing on Alex in the interrogation room. Bobs almost completely externalized his pain. Also in the hospital when Joy says you were there. one question. Duct tape: I think were supposed to accept it lol. I also have a question. And the girl had been drugged. Alex/Barry's caretaker The murderers are killing kids on a decades-long crusade against God because their own child died. People are complicated. Lokis neck is a badgeso along with your hypothesishis god is justice/prison. The priest is a registered sex offender, but how should he stop a child killer? When Loki went around talking to the birches neighbours one was Alexs mom and she described how her son was also abducted one day when the van was parked outside her house. Grace, Annas mother, goes from sad denial of reality to drugging herself into oblivion. Someone who seems like the kidnapper but isnt the killer broke into both our homes and took our kids clothes. Especially after Loki pretty much blew off Graces report about someone coming into their house. Ive had that happen and few times and it sticks with you. We see many crosses. I always wondered why Alex was just sitting there in his RV. Blessings. You know, a room thats underground. It makes the case about the impact of trauma and that Alex just cant put words to what hes experienced. Powers / Skills And lastly, we get flashbacks to her time with Gyllenhaal that reading the book triggers. Sit in a roadway: I dont think he necessarily minded Keller seeing him. The central story of Prisoners revolves around the investigation of two missing girls, Anna and Joy, led by Detective Loki. Youre so thorough and the ending is brilliant. Im also a bit confused about it. Which seems like a weird call lol. Loki doesnt have a last name, but we know the meaning of his first name. She is also the VP of Wellness Development for . So the answer to the question of Did Alex actually take Anna and Joy? is yes. It was the loss of the whistle that initiated the trauma & subsequently a type of release or redemption for previous victims (Alex, Taylor) And if course, the end of the movie, is Kellers only chance of survival, hope. It happens to be near the Birch house, where the Dovers celebrate Thanksgiving. You might think thats the end of it. I dont recall that moment, if you dont mind refreshing my memory! I cant remember if he was listed above in the list of prisoners now but I was thinking Kellers Son Ralph is a prisoner too. The body is beyond recognition, but there is a necklace of a maze. Door handle: Loki checks handles a couple times. Thus, we know how long he was there. Thats why all Alex can eventually muster, even when its his life on the line, is, Theyre in the maze.. An upstairs bathroom could lose power but the bedroom down the hall might be on a separate breaker and still have power. What happened? Bob Taylor survived his abduction but cant move beyond the trauma of it. In the characters of Taylor & Alex, I agree with your accurate explanations that they are unable to speak & frozen by cognitive dissonance & being unable to speak of something as cosmicaly horrific as being abducted & what follows. To put it another way, not only are they unable to speak, but they speak in a completely different language. Will never see the world again. But not in terms of likeNorse vs Christianity. Obsessively drawing mazes on the walls because he cant stop reading an FBI agents book about the mysterious child abductor, known as the Invisible Man, who was never caught (and who was actually Holly and her husband). What a brilliant dissection of it all. Hence why, upon going back to the Kellers home, Loki finds one of the socks in the bushes. One interesting thing Ive noticed is that usually the highest quality movies find a way to distill their themes or narrative in the opening shot/scene. Staring at suspect: Just because Loki has no unsolved cases doesnt mean everything he does is perfect. That idea of the maze goes beyond the characters to the structure of the story. I have a question about the scene where Joy said: that Keller was there too. It is an experience that invites us to peel off the layers and try to make meaning from its moving images. Alex Jones is Paul Sandow's older brother; Crimes & Criminals; Canon-Typical Violence; Implied/Referenced Sexual Assault; Alex Is A Good Brother; Alex & Loki have an unlikely partnership . Alex may have become too attached to Holly and the only home he had known for many years. That becomes enough for them to not question it. Youd have to add some sort of in-road, like a conversation she has at a party where she mentions she used to date someone who wanted to be a writer but she broke his heart. State Representative Holly Jones, a Republican, represents part of St. Louis County (District 88) in the Missouri House of Representatives. I assumed that it was Bob and he was referring to when he was captured by the police in the van at the rest stop. Is it half full or half empty? Keller had been at the house. It made me wonder if he also was carrying around some past trauma. Snakes are the tempter on the Bible? Armed with a hidden gun, Keller heads to see Holly, but she soon learns he knows she kidnapped the girls and prepares her own revolver, which she aims at him upon arrival without hesitation once he voices he knows the truth. Holly was once a genuinely loving and caring woman. The two kidnapped girls. The abusers can only shake their fist at God so long as they assume that all the parents they abduct the children from will have the same re-action to their loss as they did. A lot of hot-headed guys losing their minds and screwing things up in this movie. Just my two cents. The film has an ensemble cast including Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Viola Davis, Maria Bello, Terrence Howard, Melissa Leo, and Paul Dano. Eloquently posited Jeff, this certainly fits into the message and subsequent explanation for me. Just one question: how come the parents recognised their daughters clothes at the police station but didnt realise that they were not the ones the girls wore when they disappeared? That would explain why Loki was driving so recklessly to the hospital. Thats what Joys remembering. I thought that was a major clue about the protagonist Keller Dover but at the end of the movie it seems to be a complete coincidence. It seems to be a male figure and not Holly, either. Yet, psychologically, neither can. Because Joy and Anna play on the RV, Alex keys in on them. No way you find 10 people to give a guilty verdict let alone one when US laws would allow the defense to basically go over every missing kid in the area for the past 20+ years. We know its coming from Keller Dover, trapped underground. Joy and Anna leave the Birchs to find Annas missing whistle. Remember that Keller had just shown up there too. I didnt think Maria Bello was good either. Its a German version of cellar. Meaning basement, store room. Why does that trigger a flashback where she thinks he was there? We expect psychos to have weird obsessions like mazes. There are SO many other examples of this in the film! In a sense, this is what Holly Jones and her husband carries on tooby killing children. Were purposefully left to figure it out on our own. They were scared enough to shut down and didnt move much/touch much until Alex dropped them off. Dover in his belief Alex Jones knows where the girls are. Keller will take matters into his own hands too! Plus, excellent point that they wouldnt just jump to Oh! The overall rate of having been a victim was 35% for perpetrators and 11% for non-perpetrators. Great analysis!! Sigyn, his spouse, sat with him holding a basin beneath the dripping venom, yet when the basin became full, she carried the poison away; and during this time the poison dripped on to Loki, causing him to writhe with such violence that all of the earth shook from the force, resulting in what are now known as earthquakes. (Wikipedia). Spiritual imprisonment: Holly and her husband found it impossible to move beyond their belief God had wronged them. For some (many?) What follows are the vital details of Prisonersstudied, analyzed, deconstructed, dissected, unraveled, and presented for your review. Prisoners could have presented information in the way most movies dostacking details in a chronological, linear fashion thats digestible and allows viewers to go from a place of total ignorance to a place of complete understanding. But Anna still clings to her whistlea symbol of her fathers protection because I believe that he is still the hero in her life. Were left with the question of, Does Loki save Keller or not? Maybe the most impressive thing to me about Prisoners is that almost everything that happens in the movie is a clue for Loki. Mazes end up being a bigger deal than youd probably expect. Which seems wrong. Christianity ties itself to notions of faith and Gods grace. Theres a second Alex in Prisoners. Im only 13 minutes in right now, but it is interesting! Dogs: Holly said initially that she kept the girls in the hole while the police were around. The first scene shows how Keller trains his son to kill. Ralph tries to protest and is silenced by an outburst from Keller. We saw him hurt the dog. Yeah, I like the mixture of Christian and Norse. Pearl, MS 39208. Because Holly and her husband seemed to be active, external types, they dont internalize their pain, but externalize it! Keller tells Ralph he isnt allowed to leave the house, he has to be an adult stay home and make sure Grace doesnt see the news. I felt he was trapped moreso in the house by the news vans crowding round. Accepting not just the bad but the good as well. Join our movie club to get similar movie recommendations and stories delivered to your inbox every Friday. I believe that Loki will find and rescue Keller because: 1. And a criminal to boot. Great minds.