A thousand things can go wrong in a kidnapping investigation, and "Prisoners" goes through about 100 of them before you lose count. After that it's easy to blackout under the chokehold of desperation that defines both the film and its protagonist, Keller Dover (Hugh Jackman).
The film begins with a Thanksgiving meal shared by two families, a holiday get-together which has long been a ritual. Everything is the picture of normalcy, until that horrible moment when the parents realize their 7-year-old daughters — Anna (Erin Gerasimovich) and Joy (Kyla Drew Simmons) — are missing.
In an instant, Keller's expression changes from mild worry to absolute panic. Throughout the film, director Denis Villeneuve composes his shots in such a way that Keller's face is almost always present. We slowly understand that whatever the outcome of this tragedy may be, Keller will never celebrate Thanksgiving in the same way again.