When We Are Afflicted

"More like a maze than a map"
Denis Villeneuve's Prisoners (2013)

Points for Reflection

Denis Villeneuve's Prisoners (2013)

Which principles in the Lord’s Prayer, which Keller recites at the film’s opening, does he most have difficulty following later on?
As Keller and Ralph pull into their neighborhood, they’re listening to Ocean’s “Put Your Hand in the Hand” (1971). How do the lyrics of this song telegraph the film’s thematic interests?
Would you characterize Keller as prudent in his various precautions, or overly wary?
Are Grace and Keller Dover permissive, or restrictive, parents?
Does Ralph seem like an attentive and caring old brother?
Does Ralph emulate his father?
Is Franklin Birch as quick as Keller to suspect a problem when their girls disappear?
Do the various symbols worn on Loki’s body signal anything important about his character?
What does Loki’s frequent blinking, a quirk adopted by Jake Gyllenhall for this role, suggest about the detective’s character?
What do we learn about Loki’s past that might explain the passion he throws into his job?
When does Villeneuve use pull focus to shift the audience’s focal point within an unchanging frame?
Is there rhyme or reason to when Villeneuve employs an L-Cut, and when he instead uses a J-cut?
Can we identify why Alex behaves in an abnormal fashion?
Which of the things Holly says when interviewed by Loki are later proven accurate?
Do Nancy and Grace respond to shared trauma similarly?
Though we’re not given much of Keller’s background, what we can assume about his past?
How tangible a hold does Keller’s religious faith have on his behavior?
Who is the unidentified man located in the parsonage basement?
Why does Captain O’Malley cut Keller some slack?
Are all of Alex’s peculiarities involuntary?
Which of the drastic actions taken by Keller seem justified by the evidence the film has given us?
What of the evidence of Keller’s own character, his temperament and values? Are we supposed to assume—throughout most of the film—that his interpretation of events is correct?
Is Franklin more present for his family than is Keller?
At what various points in the process of dealing with trauma do we see Keller pray?
Is Nancy’s approach to the problem shared by all four parents more effective than Keller’s approach, once she’s looking the supposed culprit in the face?
Do the drastic actions taken by Keller suggest a faith in Providence, or a lack of trust in divine design?
Where does Grace think her husband is in the evenings, lately?
What is Keller’s history with alcohol?
How does Villeneuve create the dream state for Keller’s sleeping self?
What does Keller experience in his dream?
At what points does Villeneuve employ a fade-to-black transition?
Why does Keller not believe what the sartorial evidence suggests?
How many different angles does Villeneuve use to capture Bob working on his mazes? Why might the director give this one activity so much diversified attention?
Villeneuve’s camera often approaches Detective Loki from behind, in either a long shot or medium shot. Why obscure the detective’s face before revealing his current actions?
Is Holly Jones’s story about her and her husband’s experience with faith at all similar to Keller’s own faith journey?
Why is Bob Taylor so obsessed with mazes?
What connects Bob and Joy?
What mistake does Keller make at the beginning of in the last scene in which he appears?
Consider the game set up by the guilty couple. Why might they have put this particular challenge before those they kidnapped?
Towards the end, the central culprit explains why they’ve done what they’ve done. Has the couple achieved what they set out to achieve?
What kind of music plays during the film’s final prayer?
Grace claims Keller is “a good man.” Does the film support this conclusion?
If Keller had not taken the drastic actions he took, would the outcome have been the same?

Cléo de 5 à 7 (1962)
one sheet

Dr. Paul Marchbanks
pmarchba@calpoly.edu