Door handle: Loki checks handles a couple times. Thats pretty fascinating. about what happened to these girls and you DONT TELL US, YOUR AUNT WILL GO TO JAIL too. I just noticed something interesting. So right there in the last names of the two main families, we see more religious references. Yeah, Regrading Alex, I guess theres still a lot thats up in the air. 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. Child abuseDruggingKidnappingMurderTorture I think theres maybe also more to be found in how Keller is a doomsday prepper and the way that relates to the idea of judgement day, but I havent watched the movie with that in mind yet. The profound trauma capable of changing the intrinsic nature of a person, their beliefs, their language. Thanks for reading it all! I thank you all from the bottom of my heart. Snakes also as in snakes and ladders. This is due to the detective leading the case, Detective Loki, finding what he believes to be evidence in Bob's house, finding blood-stained cloths, making it appear that he'd murdered the girls. Like Taylor, Alex is both influenced by his abductor and struggling to speak on something that is too terrible to express. Meanwhile, Bob appears as a new suspect in the case. I noticed this strange bit of dialogue from Loki: You know IF YOU KNOW something Hi Lory! If you skipped right to his section, welcome! One question that bugs me if Alex took the 2 girls in the RV, how comes the forensic team didnt find any trace of them? Sat, 21 Jun 2003. Its Hollys husband, and hes wearing the same maze necklace as the mysterious body from the basement. What follows are the vital details of Prisonersstudied, analyzed, deconstructed, dissected, unraveled, and presented for your review. She forces him to drink a drugged liquid, causing him to feel faint. When I re-watch the movie again Ill keep that in mind and see how I feel about it. Or in the movie Black Swan, a theme is duality, so we often see the main character, Nina, reflected in mirrors or windows. Alex reunited with parents??? Its an unsolvable puzzle. Funny enough, Dover Historian mentions in Turkey the word means to beat or hit a person. Keller Dover definitely did a lot of dovering in Prisoners.). We also see that Alex and Bob face a diminution in their ability to express themselves, in speech or otherwise (of which, I am convinced the actors mustve studied the behaviour of those experiencing anxiety or other trauma, as the accuracy is unnerving). On the surface, all of that just plays into the drama and mystery of a crime thriller. Other people feel nervous in the silence and start saying stuff just to fill it. | Gyllenhaal was just OK, not especially convincing. I checked internet, your analysis is really cool and comprehensive. 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. Holly Jones (Prisoners) Keller Dover; Please check the notes for additional warnings! How? But it does seem like its probably one of those oversights they hope we dont focus on too much haha. Especially Joys mother. in public-policy analysis, UNC-Chapel Hill; master's of divinity . Commenting on the arrest, Police Chief Julian Fantino made an angry plea to government to set up a DNA bank for all software developers. And it never really changed. When Keller left the hospital, he went to Hollys house. It's time to celebrate #MyFlickrYear22! After the police let Alex go, Keller kidnaps Alex. Itsweird. Hes only reacting to the abduction because it reminds him of his own and he starts to copycat, reliving the nightmare of what he experienced with Holly and her husband. Why didnt Loki look into it more? And Loki literally arresting people with the intent of sending them to prison. One has the last name Dover. Lets go through the various types that show up. I watched it a few years later and now 2021, the movie was on my Netflix suggestions pool, I was half in for watching it and I didnt.. woke up today and first thing was to figure out the story. It was probably a promotional piece to go with the book because it doesnt look homemade. . And how could he know where the girls lived in the first place? This is reinforced later by Joys struggles to explain what had happened to her, only able to look at Keller and say, You were there. We know he was in the area, in the van. Awesome article Chris and I love that youre still replying to people after all this time! That unmerited favor that we cannot predict or control. Join Facebook to connect with Holly Jones and others you may know. After this all goes down a lot of parents get closure, the two families go home and deal with court stuff, but this family has a living ghost that haunts them 24/7. But keep up the good work! Emotional imprisonment: the disappearance of Anna and Joy emotionally devastates the Dover and Birch families. 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. People need people and people need grace. 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. To lose a child to a violent death is an unimaginable horror, but it's a horror . Theres an FBI book about a serial abductor who was obsessed with mazes. But not in terms of likeNorse vs Christianity. Finally, when Lokis at Hollys house, suspicious because he thinks Keller might be there and might have done something awful, he sees the picture in the bedroom. Theres a reason that scriptwriter Aaron Guzikowski and director Denis Villeneuve included the scene of Alex yanking the dog off the ground by the leash to watch it choke and kick. The overall rate of having been a victim was 35% for perpetrators and 11% for non-perpetrators. Again, I appreciate your review. The length contributes to your analysis of the compounding effects of abduction over time, depicted in the varying lengths of how long they spent in the maze Joy seems the most available afterwards, but Anna is more slow to integrate; then Taylor, who is surprisingly capable (has a house, quite a capable thief, etc) while still being extremely myopic and distressed; and Alex, who is the mostly deeply shut off from the world. And maybe a tad under utilized. Holly likely assumed that Joy had been able to provide enough information to reveal her location. So he went to speak with Alexs mom (Barrys mom). The lights in the derelict apartment apparently dont work but plug-in job lights do, OK. Why does no one ever check a door handle before breaking it down or crawling through a window? Its a silly, basic example but the opening of The Lion King is the rising sun. This piece is wonderful contextualises and puts in words what the movie does not so Thank you bc I enjoyed the read v much. Or Barry. She was elected to her first two-year term in November 2022. That kind of foreshadowing is done for a reason. He is not the all-knowing, all powerful saviour. Actually, now that I think about it, it is possible that Holly was in fact trying to kill Anna by administering a lethal dose of opiates in that scene, since she would have realized by that point that she was at high risk of being caught by other parties. Reading what you wrote got me thinking if there is another layer to the way the trees relate to Kellers profession as a carpenter. Hes essentially frozen by cognitive dissonance. Why isnt the aunts house and grounds searched with dogs? Great analysis!! When I think of mazes, I think of complications. Loki will find Keller and Keller will be rescued by someone else and face that new realization that he could never have been a self sufficient island unto himself and his family. You start the movie in a place of ignorance but end with a sense of superiority in understanding the who, what, when, how, and why. Eloquently posited Jeff, this certainly fits into the message and subsequent explanation for me. Why it happened? What did you think about the performances? Loki doesnt have a last name, but we know the meaning of his first name. 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. No thats not what happened. While I was watching the film in board day-light, I crotched my teddy bear with me, something I dont normally do as its that scary! Barely talking. For some (many?) MARSHALL COUNTY, Ala. (TCD) -- A woman from Albertville was sentenced to 99 years in prison for charges of sodomy, sexual torture, and bestiality. Avatar is kind of similar. When you get to the end of a movie like Inception, theres no explanation about what happened. Once a loving and religious woman, both Holly and her husband's minds soon took a twisted turn when their son died of cancer. Theres a moment in the movie where Loki is searching for clues in old newspapers and he founds a note of a man, a correctional officer, who commited suicide (allegedly) after his son was abducted. Except there was no Alex. Keller had been at the house. Holly Jones disappeared from her west-end Toronto neighbourhood in 2003, raped and murdered by Michael Briere. Jones Also known as: infinity. Does Loki discover Keller in the hole or not? Remember that Keller had just shown up there too. And bipartisan lawmakers couldn't be happier. Grace originated, as a word, in France in the 1200s and soon after had a firm association with Christianity and the idea of virtue and receiving the favor of God. That the book is a dramatic retelling of Adams cheating on then dumping Gyllenhaal and the pain he dealt with in the aftermath of her hurting him. If he was, then he wouldnt have continuously lied to the police and Keller. How fitting we have a character named Grace, a word typically associated with Gods favor. Prisoners ist ein US-amerikanischer Spielfilm aus dem Jahr 2013 unter der Regie von Denis Villeneuve. Bridger is serving a full . Lokis name means: prison, to break, to end, fire, which is also an interesting connection with he movie. 303 East Church Street Post Office Box 69 919-894-3616 919-894-2091 . Is it half full or half empty? Birch was also interesting as a name because birch trees are thought to be resilient, bending but not breaking. Regarding Christianity, we hear the Lords Prayer. Which led to Kellers survival mindset. Something like that. 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 notion of a prison recurs so often. Toronto (AP)-On Friday, June 20th Toronto Police arrested Michael Briere, a 35 year old software developer, for the horrific murder of 10 year old Holly Jones. 1409 Greenbrier Street Charleston, WV 25311 (304) 558-2036 Contact Us | Site Map | Staff Directory We expect psychos to have weird obsessions like mazes. Everyone describes Alex as pretty internal and passive, but I wonder if (in his own traumatized and child-like way) he is trying to break out of the maze! But so many people missed this concept that Kendrick actually released a special edition of the album that was reverse chronological order. Because Joy and Anna play on the RV, Alex keys in on them. Keller doesnt get the answer he seeks from all the torture HE did, but by Joys miraculous escape and him making the connection that she saw him at some point. Holly could have been in the van. Youre absolutely right. Thanks. The two kidnapped girls. Residence: Asheville. And the imprisoned Alex Jones eventually tells his captor that the girls are, In the maze.. 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. I am from a complex family, nothing like what the film portrays but still some issues and I thank my last lucky star, Please also note the professors I have been working with at the end of this video. This is the man who saved Anna, and Anna doesnt say a word to him, despite being prompted by her mom. Diego. But again, wow! This writeup helped explain a few things I was uncertain of but I still found too many parts of the movie unbelievable and just plain frustrating. Chris, you have written a very good essay, and most of your explanations are sound and thoughtful. The simplest answer is just Theyre in shock and that makes memory difficult. Because its actually something the girls had, how else would it get there? CSP-Sacramento is located adjacent to Folsom State Prison. The little girls are not the same (one clings to her mother for dear life and the other is stoic)? But the more you dig into Prisoners it eventually becomes clear as day that the entire movie is this layered exploration of various types of prisons: physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. Please direct any questions regarding the information obtained on this site to the DOC . But his instinct, thoroughness, and curiosity get the better of him. (if that was what she was doing) And why did she do it so slowly? Their sonstill a childdies, causing them tremendous grief. And that ignited in her a hatred of God. Will never see the world again. Were really only within 24 hours of all the information coming out. A funny example is Kendrick Lamars 2017 album, Damn. What will it do to their friendship? Did Loki know she found her whistle? It was on screen so briefly, and Netflixs Pause function obliterates whatever Im trying to read, so I didnt bother. Details. Which would therefore create a maze of the mind and memories. Alex Jones (Prisoners) Detective Loki (Prisoners) Paul Sandow (The King) Holly Jones (Prisoners) Keller Dover; Please check the notes for additional warnings! Or will Keller die in the hole Holly Jones had left him in? She clearly loved her son so much since his death broke her sanity and stripped her of any morals. To the point where they said the center of the entire universe was a gigantic tree named Yggdrasil. I thought it was. Thats an interesting point about the zodiac signs! 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 . I am impressed by how you have dissected each and every detail down to the meaning of the characters names. Back in the 80s, Holly Jones and her husband are devout Christians. 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. So was he waiting outside of his old house for someone else to play with who never came? His initial response is to dismiss it. Mini Major Victory At Olympia '08 For Ellen Whitaker & Holly Jones. Its almost as though his body forces him tobut during the chase to save Annas life, Loki was driving blind. He is unable to finish his prayer because I think he realizes that what he is doing is not according to what he believes in, but still believes that this is an act of necessary violence and he cant quite come to terms with himself on that. They are thinking about him, his lost life, and the lives of all the kids (two right down the street) that he devastated. Prisoners is a 2013 American mystery thriller film directed by Denis Villeneuve from a screenplay written by Aaron Guzikowski. Ralph tries to protest and is silenced by an outburst from Keller. And they may not have had anything to go on. Suspect Arrested in Holly Jones Murder. In Christianity, water is a major theme, playing a vital role in baptism and the idea of purity. This is the father of Alex or Bob Taylor. Which is why he ends up taking his own life. Why didnt Alex confess to the police or Keller? I dont think its entirely unrealistic. Its a really great movie. Take revenge on God for killing her son by kidnapping other people's children (partially succeeded).Kill Loki and any other interfering witnesses (failed). Sit in a roadway: I dont think he necessarily minded Keller seeing him. Alex, terrified, drives away from the home. Staring at suspect: Just because Loki has no unsolved cases doesnt mean everything he does is perfect. We do that by identifying in-roads, understanding their implications, then arriving at a conclusion. Rest In Peace Holly. The book was originally a work of fiction (I think there is something said about the book not making sense or being nonsense. The big issue every character has is with acceptance. I didnt think Maria Bello was good either. Even though Taylor lives somewhere else, it seems all he thinks about is Holly and her husband. Joy and Anna see the RV while on a walk with their siblings, Ralph and Eliza. One of these underground people tells a shocked family, Were Americans. After that information, the title, Us, can be read as US, or U.S., or United States. LONG VERSION: Holly and her husband were religious zealots until their young son died of cancer. Holly's husband is the corpse that [] Goals So Alex wanted to meet he again and played the game. There are SO many other examples of this in the film! The title is simple but that simplicity can disarm you. But also pagan and other spiritual iconography and references. How do you know the Birchs house is Alexs old house? Even without dogs, in all the time spent around the aunts house no one noticed there were tracks behind an old supposedly non-functioning car? Even with her husband gone, Holly doesn't stop and abducts Joy Birch and Anna Dover. Occupation Makes people lose their faith.. He seemed very alive at the rescue, yelling for help. However, IMO the movie definitely has a few plot holes which qualify as fridge logic. Because 26 years again, he lured Alex to play and kidnapped him. 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. This movie is called Prisoners, but the title isn't meant to simply reference Bob Taylor as a prisoner of Detective Loki, or Alex Jones as the hostage of Keller Dover, or even Anna and Joy as. But isnt it also highly unlikely that Taylor managed to buy clothes which looked exactly like the items worn by the girls? Instead of tracks 1-14, listen 14-1. Because of that, Kendricks life turned out 1,000% different than it would have had he grown up without a dad. Im also a bit confused about it. And we have a character named Loki. Themes are developed through motifs. That idea is expressed in Robert Frosts Birches and also the Blackfoot myth Why the Birch Tree Wears the Slashes in Its Bark. That was still the day of Joys escape, maybe only a few hours later. Keeping the source of these character names in mind, if you re-watch Prisoners you definitely pick up on some thematic subtext involving religion. Physical imprisonment: Holly keeping the two girls (then Keller) captive. To the point where it becomes undeniable that one theme of Us is the cultural state of America. Im sorry I just saw this. In Joys flashback theres a note saying to complete all the mazes in the book. Kellers faith in preparation creates a chain of events that causes his daughter to leave a whistle in the hole in Hollys yard. A month? I imagine this is part of the routine for her prisoners that keeps them in a lethargic state in their imprisonment. Thats a great question! History. and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed. 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. The priest is a registered sex offender, but how should he stop a child killer? Dogs: Holly said initially that she kept the girls in the hole while the police were around. As Villeneuve says, the trees are linked with the idea of necessary violence If you look at that in the sense that trees are chopped down to build homes, there is a sense that this violence against nature is necessary to provide shelter and comfort. An upstairs bathroom could lose power but the bedroom down the hall might be on a separate breaker and still have power. Great Read thanks for the detailed and thorough breakdown. Both suffered greatly to the point where they could no longer speak properly. Holly Jones. They took Bob Taylor a few years later and he escaped after three weeks; Holly forgot all about him until reading the newspaper recently. By visiting his former home, he must remember a time before he was entrapped! Everything is action, action, action. Some people may follow the clues and put 2 and 2 together. Just my two cents. So does. The idea of faith comes up again and again. [3] Also in the hospital when Joy says you were there. I think we see 4-5 then the father. Its a huge part of the religionlikea cornerstone of Christian theology. July 10, 2021 Investigation Discovery's 'The Lake Erie Murders: Blood in the Water' chronicles the brutal killing of 10-year-old Holly Jones in Ontario, Canada. In this way, the movie itself becomes a bit of a prison, a kind of labyrinth we can lose ourselves in. I thought that Alex and Bob had kidnapped the girls and Bob had left Alex to take the fall. Maybe you still disagree though. We only know that from Kellers dream, right? Holly bedroht ihn jedoch mit einer Waffe und sperrt ihn in ein unterirdisches Loch . Thats what Joys remembering. It asks you what you believe in. Lets get some answers. Mazes end up being a bigger deal than youd probably expect. Holly Maria Jones (September 14, 1992 - May 12, 2003) [1] was a 10-year-old child abduction and murder victim from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Thats cool, thats interesting. 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). Loved the movie and this thread, and its not like me to concentrate for two hours on a film. 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? But Anna still clings to her whistlea symbol of her fathers protection because I believe that he is still the hero in her life. I searched for more movies with the actor Jack G after watching Nortunal Animals. And since I am German, I really liked that you noticed that Keller is a Geman word which is cellar in English ? it may work, but I think theyre mainly just fooling themsves. Or the sum of other religions being in service to the Christian God? Stick a piece over your mouth and see how ridiculously easy it is to open your mouth. a deconstruction of individuality in a consumer-driven culture, Their sonstill a childdies, causing them tremendous grief. holly jones prisoners. Like his sister, Jones has studied Chinese as well. 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. He responds by shooting her in the head, killing the kidnapper for good. But also the idea of the maze itself and of trauma, this infinite thing. Thats really interesting. Tue 9 Jul 2013 06.45 EDT. They promptly reported her missing, and an "Amber alert" was issued the next morning. Grace, Annas mother, goes from sad denial of reality to drugging herself into oblivion. Blaming God for not saving him, they "waged a war with God" and sought to make others feel their pain. We werent given any other reason for Dover Snrs death, were we? Thematicallybeyond mazesreligion and trees are huge motifs. Dover in his belief Alex Jones knows where the girls are. When Lokis at the priests house, he sees the mark on the floor where the refrigerator gets moved in order to access the secret door to the hidden basement. Because thats exactly what these names are. Perhaps another theme of the movie is communication. The list of things that Buddy did before anyone else is long. Best. I thought this was the whole reason behind Keller being obsessed with preparing for the worst, that his dad had been facing something he was unable to cope with and killed himself as his only way out of that situation. I think he points to the husband of Holly. I've been taking it for four or five years. Brilliant article, enjoyed every word of it. The disappearance of Holly Jones Holly left home at 6:00 PM while it was still daylight, but as the darkness grew, her parents, Maria Jones and George Stonehouse, became concerned. Theres something being said in this collision between civilization and nature, Christianity and the Old Gods.. Holly Marie is alive and well and living in Oklahoma, after a family adopted her as a baby. Then the cinematography. We end with Loki either saving Keller or Keller dying underground. Im glad it was helpful! And now he kind of re-creates this moment. And can be argued is another example of being in a prison. And theres a contrast to how their trauma expresses itself. The soul. He says hes checking 9 of them. 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. Hey Mary! Not to mention how tattoos relate to paganism and Norse culture. Duration: 10m 29s. Loved your summary and analysis! etc. Thank you my good people and a wonderful site for films discussion. One is thematic, the other iswellfor lack of a better word, pretentious. We see many crosses. He needs grace and so does Lokihe relies heavy on his ability to observe and pay attention to details. The Joneses were unhinged serial killers. I think thats where I would start if I was going to write about the specific meaning of the snakes. The captor is seen in one of the last scenes attempting to inject the child with a drug most likely heroin or morphine as Grace is seen frothing at the mouth as she is driven to the hospital by Loki. So when TD robbed the place, he didnt shoot Kendricks dad. Prisoners (2013) Full Cast & Crew See agents for this cast & crew on IMDbPro Directed by Denis Villeneuve Writing Credits Aaron Guzikowski . Youre so thorough and the ending is brilliant. I felt he was trapped moreso in the house by the news vans crowding round. 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! We know the girls were interested in the van. Will Franklin and his wife have to testify against Keller for amnesty, because they were part of Alexs torture too. Filming & Production Thanks! Joy and Anna leave the Birchs to find Annas missing whistle. Is arrested as the prime suspect. Kidnapping children. Kendricks dad had always given Top Dawg extra biscuits on the house. I thought that the casting and acting were the weakest part of the film. I think they were just going to notify her that he was found. 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.. Instead, he draws a maze. The discussion in the comments is also quite engaging. So, maybe after recalling what Annas mother said, he might be able to link that to the sound of the whistle at Hollys house and try to find Keller. It put tape on my mouth. But in the moments before she speaks, we see Joys memory of escaping, the flashes of being in the house, on the ground, someone leaving the room, the book of mazes they had to complete, running away. Its a little of everything. The girl saw him or heard him though he didnt see the girl. The Monkey and Rooster zodiac signs, which Jake discusses with the waitress foreshadow the character traits of Jake (Loki) and Hugh (Keller). I still enjoyed the movie and your article, though ? Why do police always yell from a distance to freeze!, show your hands!? Hi Chris, thank you. So he definitely has a cruel streak. How could Keller have been there too? This would explain why Alex was not able to drive the van. We know this for a few reasons. That was a great analysis. Because Holly and her husband seemed to be active, external types, they dont internalize their pain, but externalize it! The characters are great. In 2012, CSP-SAC was the first institution in California to achieve American Correctional Association accreditation with 98.6 percent score. Alex may have become too attached to Holly and the only home he had known for many years. So the answer to the question of Did Alex actually take Anna and Joy? is yes. The justification given by Keller Snr. This might be seen as an act of destruction, but also as a noble act of creation. And a criminal to boot. So the next best thing was to imprison him? If God caused them to loose their faith in this way, they will play God and cause others to loose their faith in this way too. And yeah, that is devastating. 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.