When a movie can’t let you breath, you know you are watching something truly special. In director Denis Villeneuve’s “Prisoners”, the story of two abducted young girls captivates an audience and never let’s go of its attention. An emotionally heavy thriller brought forth by amazing performances from an impressive cast, “Prisoners” is a riveting film that is magnificent from beginning to end.

“Prisoners” features a wonderful cast, including Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Viola Davis, Mario Bello, Terrence Howard, and Paul Dano. In short, everyone delivers an amazing performance that keeps an audience glued to the film. Everyone helps create a story where it truly feels like real people in a real situation.

Getting more in depth, however, Hugh Jackman is truly incredible, perhaps giving the best performance of his illustrious acting career. His portrayal of a grisly and protective father is precise, where, for him, the ends justify the means in his attempt to rescue his daughter from the grips of her kidnapper. He becomes increasingly violent and desperate; slowly even losing himself from reality as he has trouble sleeping and drinks heavily, while becoming distant and remote from the other characters, including his family.

Jake Gyllenhaal is one of the other main highlights in the film, giving a real and convincing depiction of an investigative police office tasked with finding the two young girls. You feel very invested in his character, feeling the same dread and anxiety that comes with dealing with such a stressful case. Getting rough with suspects and going after multiple leads, his performance as a police officer is spot on.

Perhaps the best performance, however, comes from Paul Dano. His character sends chills through any audience member and is truly terrifying. His role as very troubled young man bleeds through with his pure terror only intensifying with every scene.

Besides the performances, the movie delivers on every technical aspect of a film. The direction from Dennis Villeneuve is magnificent, bringing forth a story that encompasses every emotion that goes into making such an amazing film: tension, terror, violence, and guilt. The script by Aaron Guzikowski is smart and tense. With every scene, you feel drawn in with anticipation of what a character is about to say. Every actor, thanks in large part to the script, becomes very convincing, investing an audience in every character. The lush cinematography is also simply amazing. Although unoriginal, the deep darkness and gloomy look of the film intensifies the tone, carrying and connecting each scene to one another. The camera work and editing is top notch, with very smart cuts and excellent use of still shots, never falling back on predictable and overused techniques.

The film, however, isn’t without its fair share of mistakes. First, from the synopsis alone, you know this is a story of two girls missing and the parent’s quest to find them. So, the setup to the abduction in the beginning of the movie is rather weak. It felt as the movie was just burning time to get to that moment. When the girls do go missing, however, it never shows the actual abduction, a huge plus in my mind.

Terrence Howard’s character seems to be only character that didn’t resonate with me. He seemed less aware, having to remind other characters, and the audience for that matter, that he also missed his daughter. He was incredibly vulnerable; broken until he was reunited with his daughter.

In the larger picture, the central story is totally unoriginal and predictable. We’ve seen the story of a man looking for his child who’s been gone missing. While the film does deliver that same story very convincingly, it still doesn’t make it fresh; the idea is still borrowed.

“Prisoners” is a riveting and dark film that showcases incredible performances from some incredible actors. The engrossing cinematography coupled with a great script helps tell a story that demands attention and never gives you time to breath. The film is exceedingly tense down to the last scene, and leaves you emotionally stressed. In the end, “Prisoners” is one of the greatest films of 2013. It’s raw, compelling, and gripping story put it above the rest.