I expect to be returning to this site again. Which is, all in all, pretty fitting. But his job is not straightforward as Keller, Anna's father is restless in the pursuit of his daughter and kickstarts his own investigation into her disappearance. And I also found this thread by Chris by chance. As it starts to get into the idea of how properly is he executing his faith? You want that for her? He was a fundamentalist, right? The film has an ensemble cast including Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Viola Davis, Maria Bello, Terrence Howard, Melissa Leo, and Paul Dano. My biggest take was that the ending sentiment wasnt believable. Demonstrated history of leadership in Human Resources Strategy, Employee Relations . Thats what Joys remembering. Alex is taken into custody, but is quickly released due to his IQ being the same as a ten year old. This is the father of Alex or Bob Taylor. It's time to celebrate #MyFlickrYear22! Has astrological symbols tattooed on his hands. This might be seen as an act of destruction, but also as a noble act of creation. I am from a complex family, nothing like what the film portrays but still some issues and I thank my last lucky star, Alex and Keller will probably go to jail. One detail I noticed that adds to the religious motif is that Loki is actually his last name and his first name is David that we see at the end of the film in the newspaper article Barry Milland AKA Alex Jones is reunited with family after 26 year. Alex is perfectly able to taunt with a cryptic, They didnt start crying till I left. He can drive, he can play with the girls, learn and sing their song, has the wherewithal to take them back to be tortured and killed, but is too traumatized by his past to say anything else? And Loki was the catalyst in Taylor committing suicide. Join our movie club to get similar movie recommendations and stories delivered to your inbox every Friday. Makes people lose their faith.. No one acts exactly as they or we expect or hope they will act because they are human and humans make things complicated and maybe because we are complicated (physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual beings) and when anything confronts us in these realms they just dont happen to us, we have to navigate through them and we can easily get lost! Im sorry I just saw this. Hey Bianca! Alex drives his RV to the house he had been abducted from in 1987, the home of his actual parents. What ending do we choose? We know he was in the area, in the van. Holly's parents. Kill Loki and any other interfering witnesses (failed). Kidnapping thrillers often lull us into a sense of safety in the opening sequences, showing the normal rhythms of life that will soon be shattered. In this film, no character will ever be the same. And what do you know, at the end of the movie, Kellers imprisoned by Holly Jones, Alexs aunt. admin on volusia county school schedule; holly jones prisoners. As well as confusion about who they really whereid also venture to guess that abuse was also a big part of the experience as you also mentionedso a confused prison of the mind. Germanic paganism/mythology (of which Norse is an offshoot) put great symbolic importance on trees and forests and stones. Its a huge part of the religionlikea cornerstone of Christian theology. How do we have faith in the face of bad events? As mentioned before, we have a character named Grace. Loki the trickster would be best able to figure out a maze (tricks) that bad people do/commit. These repeating elements, and a few others, add up. How does one start to put into words something thats as cosmically horrific as being stolen and everything that follows? 17:11), 4. You know hes going to be taken out of the hole. Watching the movie for the first time, I noticed that Loki was also non-communicative at times, especially around the parents. In a sense, this is what Holly Jones and her husband carries on tooby killing children. The body had been decomposing for a number of years. Or the sum of other religions being in service to the Christian God? When I say faith in the police, keep in mind that Loki is the detective. Tired of all the brainwashed/braindead people out thereneed to know there are people out there figuring this out like RFK jr. What a coincidence that the character with that name ends the movie in a hole in the ground?! I dont know where his faith lie, but it was grace that got him through. It is the key that ties the entire movie together. Great acting, including Melissa Leo as Holly, so soft spoken, chilling. Glad you liked the movie! Bob Taylor hears about the girls gone missing and plays kidnapper by doing weird stuff like showing up at the vigil and stealing clothes and burying mannequins in his yard (. Damn, its such a good movie. Awesome article Chris and I love that youre still replying to people after all this time! Or implied that he drove on his own just fine. Official Sites What didnt make sense to me was that the parents didnt seem to remember what the girls were wearing at the time of the abduction. Loki goes to the Fathers house, discovers a secret passage behind a refrigerator, finds, in this hidden basement, the body of Mr. Jones (identity unknown to Loki). Thats an interesting point about the zodiac signs! And this guy being a carpenter, someone who turns living trees into objects. -Prisons (physical, emotional, mental, spiritual)-Mazes-Religion. And bipartisan lawmakers couldn't be happier. For some (many?) If he was, then he wouldnt have continuously lied to the police and Keller. Be really hard to find. Alex reunited with parents??? How do we make sense of the bad in the world? Other interesting fact about the snakes: they have a connection with Loki too. Thanks Chris for your work here! I must reiterate how spectacular this review was. Due to a law passed in 1997, we also confine offenders who have been convicted of a felony in the District of Columbia. A funny example is Kendrick Lamars 2017 album, Damn. Also, I thought Holly was injecting Anna with venom and that Loki was rushing the girl to hospital to get her the anti-venom in time. Thanks. That was still the day of Joys escape, maybe only a few hours later. Prisoners ist ein US-amerikanischer Spielfilm aus dem Jahr 2013 unter der Regie von Denis Villeneuve. So she was in a pretty loopy state. Theres clearly an attempt to get us to think about listening to the album in reverse chronological order. In Latin, Dubris meant waters. This is purposefully meta, as midway through the film the motif of the maze is introduced. But I can see that the parents were in so much shock that they wouldnt remember what the girls were wearing when they were taken. Many times throughout the film, theres an emphasis on forests and trees. Whether thats the death of a child, the loss of faith in God, discovering a parent who has committed suicide, murdering a murderer, having your child abducted, torturing someone you know is guilty but wont confess, or a high-stakes job where lives are on the line. He needs grace and so does Lokihe relies heavy on his ability to observe and pay attention to details. Because 26 years again, he lured Alex to play and kidnapped him. And I read some of it after watching the film a little. His rapid eye blinking is almost like a tick that may have varies meaningsone of which is that the man rarely blinks. Thanks! Staring at suspect: Just because Loki has no unsolved cases doesnt mean everything he does is perfect. 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. That was a great analysis. And the hidden basement with the hole in the ground. Joy and Anna attempt to escape, but only Joy is successful. Holly Jones was abducted in her neighbourhood after walking a friend home from school. But also pagan and other spiritual iconography and references. The exact opposite of what you would expect him to do based on what you know about his religion. Once a loving and religious woman, both Holly and her husband's minds soon took a twisted turn when their son died of cancer. We werent given any other reason for Dover Snrs death, were we? People need people and people need grace. I dont buy it. But I think most of what you said in Prisoners is within the realm of acceptable. Great minds, Jasper. Lokis name means: prison, to break, to end, fire, which is also an interesting connection with he movie. Lokis neck is a badgeso along with your hypothesishis god is justice/prison. Plus, excellent point that they wouldnt just jump to Oh! And that ignited in her a hatred of God. English isnt my first language so I hope this made sense. Or say something. The rest are just kind ofdoing their part? Keller will take matters into his own hands too! I think your quote from Villeneuve about the trees as silent witnesses supports this. (601) 932-2880. Holly Deane-Johns, 51, was subjected to the awful living conditions while serving time at Lardyao Women's Correctional Institution. I thought that Alex and Bob had kidnapped the girls and Bob had left Alex to take the fall. Why does that trigger a flashback where she thinks he was there? If that was the case, Alexs They didnt cry until I left them wouldnt be meaningful or even logical. Denis Villeneuve and company accomplished this by placing key backstory and exposition details throughout the movie without ever having a scene that clearly ties them all together. The girls went to Annas home to find her whistle. Its likely that since the girls probably went from the van to the hole that the scent wasnt lingering in a way the dogs would notice. Thanks for the excellent analysis. That says a lot about his mental state, the degree of Stockholm Syndrome hes experiencing. Like inNocturnal Animals we have three stories being told. Or in the movie Black Swan, a theme is duality, so we often see the main character, Nina, reflected in mirrors or windows. This explanation also doesnt hold together. If you are going to edit a lot, then make yourself a user and login. So the star on Det. How do we make sense of the bad that happens in the world? Joy and Anna leave the Birchs to find Annas missing whistle. Hi, Chirs. Kind of like when he lifts the dog. People who have suffered trauma usually inflict trauma on others, in some way. Excellent insight, Jasmine! Derrick Chambers, Superintendent. Rewatched the movie while reading this and you really nailed it. Meanwhile, Bob appears as a new suspect in the case. The Birches certainly seemed far more resilient than the Dovers, who were breaking in different ways. Please also note the professors I have been working with at the end of this video. They promptly reported her missing, and an "Amber alert" was issued the next morning. Tue 9 Jul 2013 06.45 EDT. It happened in broad daylight, in the Junction Triangle neighbourhood in west Toronto, and detectives would. 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. What a coincidence that Joys last name is Birch (a very common tree in America). Its an unsolvable puzzle. In this way, the movie itself becomes a bit of a prison, a kind of labyrinth we can lose ourselves in. The little girl was abducted, and her remains were found in gym bags a day later in May 2003. Lets get some answers. It seems accusatory at first mostly because its confusing. Even though you assume thats whats probably going to happen, I like that theres a small chance that hes not going to get him out of there for whatever reason.. Now imagine Taylor and Alex being there for years and years. This would explain why Alex was not able to drive the van. Technical Specs, See agents for this cast & crew on IMDbPro, director of photography (as Roger A. Deakins), key hairstylist (as Elizabeth 'Shawna' Robinson), make-up: Hugh Jackman (as Pamela Westmore), second second assistant director (as Michael E. Saunders), first assistant director (as Donald L. Sparks), construction medic (as Cindy Huggins R.N. The number of prisoners held in private facilities accounts 128,300 inmates US has 1,393,975 male and 111,422 female prisoners US Imprisonment Rate is 450 people per 100.000 residents, 847 for males and 64 for females The majority of the inmates - 16.3% are between 30-34 years of age But giving the audience clues that Keller is facing lengthy prison and Alex is going home Well it is quite the opposite in reality. Does Loki represent a spirituality beyond Christianity? Though, as the movies ends before Loki saves Keller, that sense of catharsis is something Prisoners denies us. History. Thats Bob Taylor, one of the many children Holly and her husband had abducted. 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). Keller had been at the house. 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. What is the connection between the snakes and girls clothes as well as the gaze in the boxes of the home of Taylor. Chris, what do you think or D.s explanation regarding Alex waiting in the RV and crashing into the trees: Alex said that he was waiting for a man to come back and he never did. I am bothered by the fact that there were no traces at all of the two girls found in the camper van, although they have been abducted in that van! Rather than the cast elevating in their own way. I dont know if dental records are in the system. Keller keeps Alex in a box thats similar to a confessional box. Bob Taylor didnt have the opportunity. She has documented her whole story in a book named "Holly's Hell - My Long Journey Home" with the hopes of one day sharing it with others. The two kidnapped girls. Look Up An Inmate Benson NC Police Jail. Occupation While Alex is a victim, he can be a dick. Or in the movie Us, we have subterranean beings created by the government. Its too easy to say Oh, well, they were completely messed up because of their own abductions when they were kids! And as you said yourself the whole plot development depends a bit too much on the fact that neither Alex nor Taylor are willing to talk about their experiences. Real quick recap. Look Up An Inmate . Loki goes to the Jones's house to tell her that her nephew has been found. Holly could have been in the van. Holly Debord; Van Havis. Seems like something he would do in private. So while Grace may seem like a simple name, its not. In addition to her legislative duties, Jones works as the Business Manager for Renz Law LLC. People cant accept freedom, they cant accept loss. But, like the title, things arent always so simple. The dude has severe burns and 20+ counts of kidnapping (molestation???) But the same casual way he decided to choke the dog, he probably decided to bring the girls back to Holly. In-roads arent always necessary, as many artists will use more obvious devices. No thats not what happened. Then after Alex was let go, I think the police chief was hesitant to do anything more. And later, Alex tells Keller They didnt cry until I left them (more on that in the next section). How did Loki know she found her whistle? Cant wait to show this movie (and analysis) to my wife! Also, the first time we see the girls outside theyre wearing gloves. But isnt it also highly unlikely that Taylor managed to buy clothes which looked exactly like the items worn by the girls? Alex says In the maze, and Bob simply draws it. A month? The fact that our two most faithful characters end the movie together, each trusting in their faith, is pretty beautiful. An in-road is a purposeful element that the writer/director includes to clue the viewer in on thematic subtext or plot mysteries. So yes, the maze stuff in Prisoners is part of the basic plot. Its Grace who, in the wake of her daughter being stolen, completely falls apart. Filming & Production Of any filmmaker ever, hes the biggest beneficiary of audiences not caring about little infuriating logic inconsistencies. I hesitate though because Bob was out of the house and living on his own. It requires the work of both men to save the girls. I am very much amazed with the way you see things about the movie and the way you tell them.Just wanted to say thank you. That theme reinforces itself through motifs such as Darth Vaders black armor, his black cape, and often being shadowed (not to mention the heavy, marching music that feels very imperial and domineering). We expect psychos to have weird obsessions like mazes. Prisoners is a 2013 American mystery thriller film directed by Denis Villeneuve from a screenplay written by Aaron Guzikowski. I am impressed by how you have dissected each and every detail down to the meaning of the characters names. The film stars Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Viola Davis, Terrence Howard, Maria Bello, Melissa Leo, and Paul Dano. Political party: Democrat. Especially with Christopher Nolan movies. The 10-year-old girl was raped and murdered by Michael Briere, her dismembered body eventually found where the 35-year-old software developer had disposed of it, in two bags floating in Lake Ontario. 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. Thanks for the analysis. Our inmate population consists of people awaiting trial for violating federal laws or those who have already been convicted of committing a federal crime. He equally needs the cold and frosty weather because hes shot and maybe this will keep him alive a little longer (dont know, I am not a doctor) or keep the drug from effectively knocking him out. The soul. When you realize one of the names has a deeper meaning, it leads to the question: Do the rest of the names have meaning? This brings us back to Grace and Loki and Dover and Birch, etc. Those three movies do the normal thing of stacking information so that as the plot progresses we feel more knowledgeable and empowered about whats going on. And while Alex may have initially had innocent intentions with Anna and Joy, to pretend he was a child again, free from the burden of his theft, he had to have known bringing them back to Holly wouldnt end well. I think thats where I would start if I was going to write about the specific meaning of the snakes. I didnt think Maria Bello was good either. It opens with a shot of a snowy forest, where a deer quietly noses around for food. The little girls are not the same (one clings to her mother for dear life and the other is stoic)? But Im pretty sure she wasnt leaving the house much anymore and wouldnt like Alex going to see his old house. Reading what you wrote got me thinking if there is another layer to the way the trees relate to Kellers profession as a carpenter. TORONTO - Police in Toronto on Friday arrested a 35-year-old man and charged him in connection with the killing of 10-year-old Holly Jones. Lets go through the various types that show up. Additionally, this would explain the necklace. They said specifically that the DNA and dental records came back with no match. That line would be an in-road that provides the necessary context to understanding why the book has such a devastating impact on her. What happens next Holly eventually describes as, Making children disappear is the war we wage with God. Take revenge on God for killing her son by kidnapping other people's children (partially succeeded).Kill Loki and any other interfering witnesses (failed).