Another thing is the significance of showing the prepper mindset and taking everything in his own hand and his general lack of trust in higher authorities including police and perhaps even more broadly God, and how that changed when he was in the most helpless situation in what he prepared nothing for, and yet found that red whistle which will save his life. It just points at a larger abandonment issue Alex has. Similar to how Fight Club is powerful because its not really about Edward Nortons character but rather a deconstruction of individuality in a consumer-driven culture. Thanks for the thoughts. Not what was actually going on. Jones he was there he visited Hollys home before he realized she was the kidnapper he said he was there to apologize for scaring off Alex and he came in and they talked but he left when he saw the paper saying that Bob killer himself. They are from USC, UCLA, Columbia, Yale, and Chapman University. But he was released in 1995 after serving less than three years of his sentence. Before you trash this post, and think Im a nut case, please view the first 5 minuets of my video. To the point where they said the center of the entire universe was a gigantic tree named Yggdrasil. CSP-SAC is on 882 acres, sharing this property with Folsom State Prison, Folsom Women's Facility, and California Prison Industry Authority. He was parked outside of his old house in the camper when the girls came by and got in the camper with him. Why? And Loki was the catalyst in Taylor committing suicide. Im glad it was helpful! And bipartisan lawmakers couldn't be happier. 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? She reveals that she heard Keller while she was held captive. Maybe you still disagree though. Hes thematically relevant to Prisoners but not crucial to what happens and how it happens. 69K views 2 years ago In Pennsylvania, Keller Dover, his wife Grace, son Ralph, and daughter Anna celebrate Thanksgiving with their friends Franklin and Nancy Birch, and their daughters Eliza and. But not in terms of likeNorse vs Christianity. 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. But, like the title, things arent always so simple. Having a very prominent Christian first name and a very prominent Norse last name falls into place with the different spiritualities working together in the movie, which is maybe why hes the one to save the child in the end. Will Loki put 2+2 together and save Keller? Perhaps it was intended to reflect his personality, peaceable in normal situations, but with a killer instinct ready to take over when pushed by circumstances. Hey Aggie! But Anna still clings to her whistlea symbol of her fathers protection because I believe that he is still the hero in her life. You did an amazing job! So the next best thing was to imprison him? Anyway thanks for the insight. Its Hollys husband, and hes wearing the same maze necklace as the mysterious body from the basement. The Bob Taylor detail was one I didnt include in why response. Finally returning to the movie and looked into this. And yes, I love the juxtaposition of David Lokis name. Hello! 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. Loki didnt find Keller torturing Alex. I felt he was trapped moreso in the house by the news vans crowding round. Compare this to other crime thrillers like Silence of the Lambs or Seven or Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Again, I appreciate your review. Their plight is immense and it can drive them to do unto others as has been done unto them. etc. Bob somehow escaped, but the memories kept him from telling the police. A small foreshadowing detail I noticed is when Alex signs his name to be released from the police, its revealed that his middle name is Winterman which is a reference to a book by the same name by Alex Walters about a serial killer that targets children. Dover in his belief Alex Jones knows where the girls are. The screenwriter, Aaron Guzikowski, did an interview with Buzzfeed and just straight up said: Oddly enough, thats how it was in the script when it was bought. Prisoners never shows us the abduction or has someone explain outright what happened. Snakes also as in snakes and ladders. The facility was expanded in 1996 and now includes 18 . one question. Then brought him home and he kept waiting for Alex to come play. Cant wait to show this movie (and analysis) to my wife! Because Holly and her husband seemed to be active, external types, they dont internalize their pain, but externalize it! A normal person probably doesnt run off like that. Of any filmmaker ever, hes the biggest beneficiary of audiences not caring about little infuriating logic inconsistencies. Really insightful. Tormenting those families we have Holly Jones. By not showing Kellers rescue, were left with a choice: do we have faith in Loki or dont we? Is it half full or half empty? 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. Why do police always yell from a distance to freeze!, show your hands!? Hi Yuen, Goals When Loki brings Taylor in, Taylor cant just explain what happened and why. Lokis fellow officer brought it up that the Invisible Man used an LSD/ketamine cocktail on the victims, as described by that book. So we have two very Christian characters in Keller and Grace who are dependent on Loki, a character symbolizing non-Christian religions. Mini Major Victory At Olympia '08 For Ellen Whitaker & Holly Jones. But Im pretty sure she wasnt leaving the house much anymore and wouldnt like Alex going to see his old house. We know this for a few reasons. But IMO the explanations for Taylors weird actions do not hold together upon close scrutiny. The seemingly simple progress of the story is an artistic choice to create the sense of an itch you cant quite scratch, that theres more going on than you may have realized. I like it much better being ambiguous. If you want to get the full picture of the story, you have to unite the fragments. Reading what you wrote got me thinking if there is another layer to the way the trees relate to Kellers profession as a carpenter. So you could try and argue that it just means the girls didnt struggle. Popular depiction has Loki as a trickster. The girls never mention a second man either. Back in the 80s, Holly Jones and her husband are devout Christians. it may work, but I think theyre mainly just fooling themsves. Hey! 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! Absolutely brilliant analysis, I wouldnt ne surprised if it is the best lne there is. in public-policy analysis, UNC-Chapel Hill; master's of divinity . Weve already discussed the importance of trees in pagan religions. I guess it was made to distract/confuse the viewers. Prisoners puts that concept onto how people struggle to work through and escape from their traumas. Stick a piece over your mouth and see how ridiculously easy it is to open your mouth. Hi Chris, thank you. 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. I must reiterate how spectacular this review was. We (and Keller) struggle to understand whats going through Alexs mind. She clearly loved her son so much since his death broke her sanity and stripped her of any morals. The list of things that Buddy did before anyone else is long. To talk about Prisoners, it helps if we un-maze the story by laying out its key events in chronological order. People who have suffered trauma usually inflict trauma on others, in some way. But on the way back they saw the van and decided to play on it since their older siblings werent there to tell them no. Especially in a building that has so many issues. Unbeknownst to him, Joy and Anna are in another room and Joy sees him/hears him. Investigators from the Texas Attorney General's office walked into Holly's workplace on Tuesday and. Near the end of the movie, Holly Jones is explaining that Alex was the first boy they took after their son died, and that his name hadnt been Alex that it had been Jimmy. The Central Mississippi Correctional Facility (CMCF) was established in 1986 and built on 171 acres in Pearl in Rankin County. This can be the complicated nature of someone who has been hurt as substantially as Alex has been hurt. She tells him that her and her husband have been waging a war on God and shows Keller where she hid Anna. The big issue every character has is with acceptance. To lose a child to a violent death is an unimaginable horror, but it's a horror . A theme in the Star Wars universe is that good is associated with light and bad is associated with darkness. Even with her husband gone, Holly doesn't stop and abducts Joy Birch and Anna Dover. Holly also told Keller that Alex was just taking the girls for a drive in the RV, so maybe they werent frightened until they got to Hollys house and she decided to keep them. It could also explain that Alex could not respond until days into his captivity, finally giving him a break in this regular prescription as he regained a scrap of his ability to think. -Prisons (physical, emotional, mental, spiritual)-Mazes-Religion. Does no one in Hollywood understand these simple things or are they such standard props that we are supposed to accept them knowing full well how ludicrous they are? Its that whistle he uses to signal Loki. Also isnt the name Keller, too close to killer? Its no longer Alex being the byproduct of Holly and her husband, or being cruel just to be cruel. Its a really great movie. Alex invited them into the van. I love it that youre so active in the comments and engaging with readers, it encourages me (and hopefully other readers) to revisit movies with new perspectives in mind and discuss further. Man, I didnt even think about the carpenter thing. Mark Bridger, the former abattoir worker jailed for the sexually motivated murder of five-year-old April Jones, has been attacked in prison. His real parents are the prisoners. 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. Just my two cents. Holly could have been in the van. and if so, I guess its just coincidence that Hollys husband had a maze around his neck and that they left mazes in the locked room? After she took care of you all this time? By that, I mean Alex has headed towards introversion. The dead body discovered in the priests house just so happens to have on a maze necklace. Holly Jones ( Source : wordpress ) After walking a classmate home from school, Holly Jones was kidnapped in her neighborhood. What fate for Keller do we accept? 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. Why does Alex say I waited but he never came? Alex knows where the children are, but if he wants his Aunt in jail, and therefore stopped for good, he cant tellso its complicated. hi Chris, enjoyed reading the above just one question: the FBI agents book about Finding the Invisible Man was that about another abductor who was obsessed with mazes and not the crimes committed by Holly and her husband? He could be Hollys husband, thats true. The s**cide of Dover Sr definitely is the reason why Keller doesnt want to renovate his childhood home and adds another layer to that house where Alex is eventually imprisoned. Theyre always there, at least in the background. Rather than the cast elevating in their own way. Bob Taylor survived his abduction but cant move beyond the trauma of it. Hey Bianca! The central story of Prisoners revolves around the investigation of two missing girls, Anna and Joy, led by Detective Loki. I also think it is highly unlikely that Taylor managed to break into both houses and steal the items without being noticed at all. Under certain agreements and special circumstances, we . Midway through Prisoners were introduced to the concept of the maze. I stumbled upon this essay and now cant wait to watch again. Weve talked about Graces name. Suspect Arrested in Holly Jones Murder. Prisoners is about spirituality and the complicated nature we have with spirituality. 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. How do you know the Birchs house is Alexs old house? It could provide some backstory about Keller but theres nothing concrete enough (at least as far as Im aware) that you could really point to. Loki doesnt have a last name, but we know the meaning of his first name. Three things that we see come up again and again throughout the film. I dont know if dental records are in the system. Chris, this was a fantastic analysis of a complex story, and dead on. Our inmate population consists of people awaiting trial for violating federal laws or those who have already been convicted of committing a federal crime. In the largest mass commutation in US history, at least . Thats an interesting point about the zodiac signs! Hes burying mannequins in his yard. So the beginning of Prisoners gets at themes of nature, religion, and violence. Regarding Christianity, we hear the Lords Prayer. Thanks for the analysis. He isnt innocent here. It is of course not completely impossible because Holly could have cleaned the van thoroughly. POOPER: Holly Jones (Melissa Leo) kidnapped the two little girls. That was a great analysis. And yes, it also reinforces the theme of imprisonment, because a maze can be, after all, a prison and almost every character in Prisoners is working through some kind of maze (physical, emotional, psychological, or spiritual). I dont recall that moment, if you dont mind refreshing my memory! Welcome to the colossal explanation of Prisoners.